Sealate Warpein
by CaffineFreekar
Summary: Naruto's soul is forced back seventeen years, right before the Kyuubi was sealed, to find that the Yondaime's alive, and that he's... a baby? Post timeskip. T for mild language. No pairings.
1. Chapter 1: Trapped Namikaze

"Oi, Naruto," said a toad, unwisely choosing to appear in his second bowl of ramen.

Unfortunately for the toad, said Uzumaki was not in the brightest of moods. He had just returned from a solo mission in the Mist Country, where he had played ambassador from Konoha to assess the recent damage of war between Mist's rebels, and it wasn't exactly a happy-go-lucky scene to witness. Moreover, this was his first ramen break in months, so he had purposefully stopped by to eat before the fifth got hold of him and sent him off to some other ramen-despising country.

"What now, Gamakichi?" said a slightly irked Naruto, he knew what was coming.

The toad rolled his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "The Slug Tamer of Konoha, member of the Prodigal Three, and Godaime Hokage of Konoha; Hidden Village in the Leaves, as well as the Toad Hermit, also a member of the Prodigal Three, request your presence at the central Hokage tower immediately."

Naruto gave the toad, which looked insatiably irritated with having such a menial task of playing messenger to a ninja who was supposed to report to the Hokage anyway, an amused look and replied, "Well alright, tell ero-sennin and obaa-chan that I'm on my way."

And with a soft 'pop' the toad disappeared to wherever summon animals decide to take up residence.

"Well," remarked Naruto to no one in particular, "what a waste of miso…"

Pushing the neglected bowl aside, he sighed, pulled out his money, paid, said good-bye to the old man who ran Ichiraku, and set off towards the tower.

His pace was that of a brisk walk. He knew the toad had said "immediately", but he didn't feel like taking to the preferred ninja mode of travel, the roofs, just yet. Savoring nonexistent free time was his current priority. Tsunade could wait.

As he walked down the loping streets of downtown, he suddenly became aware and quite surprised to find that instead of the disgusted glares of the villagers he had grown accustomed to, some said hello and offered a greeting, while still others took one glance and shamefully looked at their feet. Intrigued, Naruto took a detour onto one of the busier streets to see if this abnormal behavior towards the 'Kyuubi no Gaki' was consistent with the rest of the population.

Sure enough, within seconds of strolling down the boulevard, heads in shops turned and smiled at him, some waved, to whom he politely waved back, confused. An old lady even came up to him and shook his hand saying, "You look so much like your father!"

Shock crept over Naruto's whiskered face, but as he was about to ask what the villager meant, she had gone.

"_Something's definitely happened_," thought Naruto, who reluctantly leapt up to the rooftops to sprint to the tower. "_Maybe baa-chan will know what's up_…"

Forty-five seconds later, he was ascending the steps to the great political building, deep in thought. As he opened the door into the reception hall, the normally ignorant of the 'Kyuubi Kid' secretary sat straight up, smiled, and waved him back into the Godaime's office hallway. If this wasn't one of the strangest things Naruto had ever seen, he didn't know what was.

Further confused, he stepped over the threshold and down the main hallway, only to be blocked by two burly ANBU who, like the secretary, stiffened and stepped aside respectfully. Naruto could have sworn he had heard the honorific "sama" muttered by the ANBU on the left.

By this time, Naruto's previously gloomy demeanor had been replaced with a medley of confusion, disbelief, agitation, and… flattery? NEVER had anyone paid this much attention to him. EVER. When they _had_ paid attention in the last five years, it was because he pulled another hare-brained scheme involving subsequent persual for the next few hours. The only other circumstance was whenever he gained someone's respect, and as far as he knew, he hadn't gained the respect of the _entire village_ overnight.

Plus, what that villager had said was very disturbing in itself. No one knew his parents. He had discerned as much on his two year trip with Jiraiya so long ago. That or no one cared enough to tell him. They never gave straight answers.

_

* * *

_

[FLASHBACK]

"Baka! If you don't concentrate _today_, you won't get it! Even _you_ could figure that out! This ultra-powerful-super-awesome Jutsu is no laughing matter!"

"Gomen! Gomen! Jiraiya-sama!"

A pause...

...

"EHH?!"

"WHAT?!"

"Who are you and what have you done with Naruto?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya sighed. It had been like this for a while. His pupil would sound so much like his father sometimes. It was very, _very_ unnerving. Wait, scratch that, he not only talked like his father, he _looked_ like his father as well. Very unnerving - _indeed_.

It was quite obvious that something was bugging the blonde; making him lose focus. He was often heard getting up and sneaking out the window sill in the middle of the night, sitting alone on the roof of wherever they happened to be staying.

When asked 'what the hell was making him screw up', Naruto being Naruto had shaken off the question and passed his lack of sleep off as:

"I don't know. I just can't get to sleep."

It was all very troubling. Very troubling _indeed_. What was more troubling was what Naruto said, or, rather _asked,_ next.

"Ero-sennin, do you know who my parents are?"

Deep down, Jiraiya knew that it was only a matter of time before such a question popped out of 'The Number One Hyperactive Knuckle-Headed Ninja's' mouth. It was his right to know, but Jiraiya didn't, couldn't, tell him. Although he didn't want to admit it, the only thing holding him back from telling him, was his own fear, and of course his former pupil's request to tell him much later on.

The fear that Naruto would follow in his father's footsteps, and die. Leaving Jiraiya, the older generation, to live on, while yet another one of his students sacrificed themself for a village, a promise, or something they believed in. If Naruto knew who his father was, his determination to become Hokage and surpass the Yondaime would increase a billion-fold, putting him in even more danger for capture by the ever-competent and impatient Akatsuki cult. You could say the reason he wouldn't tell was because he cared. Wasn't the pupil supposed to bury the mentor, not the other way around?

Fortunately, solstice and escape from this dangerous question came in the form of an attractive brunette. As he chased after her, feigning ignorance to the question, Jiraiya thought:

"_Maybe next time, kiddo."_

_

* * *

_

After Jiraiya had walked off on his little fantasy escapade, Naruto simply assumed he didn't know, and dropped the subject. But he could still feel the discouragingly empty little pang between his left ribs whenever he thought about it.

Naruto turned onto another corridor, and as he did so, dismissed the parentage issue with the involvement of the old woman and carried on to the villagers' behavior issue.

Perhaps, it had to do with his saving the village all of three times. For this village, _his_ village, he had done it all: defeated Gaara after his first Chuunin exam, single-handedly destroyed Otogakure, eliminated the threat that was the Akatsuki, and turned the tide of the Fourth Great Shinobi War for Konoha's victory. And all these accomplishments had certainly not gone unnoticed. During the Fourth War, Naruto earned his nickname 'Red Flash' from the Iwagakure ninjas in reference to Kyuubi's limitless power in combat. The ones lined up for the slaughter who had miraculously survived the Third War suddenly remembered the infamous 'Yellow Flash' and thought Naruto his reincarnation. Their fighting styles were apparently so similar, even the copy-nin had trouble remembering the Yondaime had passed on when he and Naruto had fought together. All these feats of bravery would definitely carve out a reputation for greatness for any normal ninja in Konoha. Not to mention, Naruto was practically Konoha's peacekeeper, what with being ambassador to other countries. Some could argue that he could feasibly be the most powerful ninja of all time, having allegedly surpassed the Yondaime Hokage, who, theoretically, was undefeatable in his time because of the _Hirashin no Jutsu_.

If you even mentioned his skill, the former loud, obnoxious, orange-clad kid would become _modest_. He would insist in a heartbeat that the Yondaime would be better in an all-out fight. This modesty, combined with _very _reluctantly acquired manners and rhetorical prowess, had gained himself the respect of even more people.

All too soon, Naruto found himself outside Tsunade's office door, knocked, and walked in, subconsciously noticing that there were four chakra signatures in the room.

"Hey brat, long-time no-see."

"Yo."

"What took you so long, gaki? _I want that report_!"

The speakers, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Tsunade, respectively, accounted for three of the chakra signatures, but who—

"Good afternoon, Namik— err… Uzumaki-san."

The last occupant of the room wasn't anyone Naruto knew personally, but he could recall seeing him at some of the briefings and meetings for Jounins on a not-too-often basis. The man wasn't incredibly tall, about 5'5", and looked to be around 46. Naruto nodded at the man and turned on Jiraiya.

"What the hell?! You made that frog appear in my _ramen_!"

"Got your attention though, didn't it?!" chuckled the perv, obviously pleased with his ingenuity.

Naruto grumbled something about people not appreciating ramen quite enough, reached into one of his vest pouches and passed his report scroll to the Hokage, which he had written _ALL_ in kanji, just to piss her off.

She unrolled it and began to scan its contents, pausing to glare at him for the extra cranial effort.

"Well, thank goodness that problem's taken care of," she sighed. "What did you do to convince them that we weren't planning on placing an embargo after the raids and alliance negotiations were finished?"

"Line thirty-six."

A pause...

"Excellent," grunted the satisfied Hokage.

"Okay, now spill it," said Naruto, who knew he, and all the other company weren't here simply to relieve Tsunade of a headache.

"Don't worry, nothing but good news," interjected Kakashi, who noticed Naruto tense as Tsunade applied her serious face.

"The village community," began the man, before Tsunade could speak, "has recently held a meeting of the civilians to discuss new information on a subject of major importance to the village, namely, you."

Naruto raised his eyebrow tentatively. He knew what was coming, he could smell it, and he didn't like it one bit. The villagers probably decided that it was time for him to be 'taken care of', despite everything he had done for them. Naruto's eyes flickered untracably around the room, and settled on the open window... but Kakashi said—

"The information and subject was also about the Yondaime Hokage."

The blonde Shinobi clenched his fists, resisting the urge to Rasengan this man to seventh hell. He could've just said the topic was on Kyuubi, but _NO_, they had to drag it out. Even Naruto, the great dramatic, wasn't buying it. But Kakashi—

"At the beginning of the meeting, a picture of yourself and the Yondaime were placed next to each other, and we found strange similarities between the two."

This was… unexpected.

"Blonde hair and blue eyes aren't very common among the villagers, but you… well… let me show you."

The man reached into his pocket and took out two pictures of the same person, although one had three lines across each cheek. Naruto recognized the picture as his Jounin mug shot when they updated his medical records. The other, mirror-imaged man was none other than the Yondaime, recognizable only because of the hokage attire. The similarities were indeed striking. Naruto could pass as his clone. They even had the same side bangs. Weird. They looked like relative—'_Whoa, where did that come from?_' thought Naruto. Of course he wasn't related to _The Yellow Flash_. '_I mean come on, what kind of father seals the demon fox in his own kid_?'

Then it happened.

The man had resumed speaking, but whatever he said fell on deaf ears as Naruto felt pain like no other rip through his stomach and spread like wildfire throughout his body. He was on fire and the pain was unbearable! This was nothing compared to when Sasuke punched through him with his Chidori back in The Valley of End. _NOTHING_. This pain was like going through not only the seven hells, but pummeling through them to the abyss of pain beyond.

The searing escalated, and as he silently crumpled to the floor, the world as he knew it swimming viciously into black, he heard a yelp and someone say, "Get another medic in here now! Shizune!"

**

* * *

**

Nothing.

There was nothing.

"**BUT THERE IS."**

What? No there wasn't.

"**HUR HUR… LOOKS LIKE MINATO HAS GIVEN HIMSELF ANOTHER CHANCE… INTERESTING." **

What? What's interesting?

There's still nothing...

**

* * *

**

He opened his eyes slowly. The light reached through his lids, making his eyes water. It was like he was waking up out of a long, innocuous coma. The feeling of being asleep for years and finally coming into the world again. His bones felt heavy and his limbs like sacks of heavy water, but the pain he could envision all to clearly from what seemed years and years ago smoldered dully around his navel.

Slowly regaining his senses, he heard shouting from below. Gripping his still wary conciousness in a firm mental grasp, he focused on the sounds becoming clearer and more comprehensible.

"Where'd it go?"

"What the hell…"

"The Yondaime! He must've killed it!"

"Wait, what? Where'd the demon go?"

"It's gone!"

"Did we win?"

In a jolt of confusion, his senses and awareness of his surroundings returned in a rush. With worldly clarity back inplace, he forced his eyes to open all the way. But, what he saw made him blink and screw his eyes shut again to make sure they were working properly: _The Yellow Flash _in all his glory with the strict heartless battle face piercing out to something Naruto couldn't see from his angle.

Alive.

Breathing.

Not dead.

_The_ Yondaime, his childhood hero, was alive. Naruto's eyes watered even more out of happiness.

Then the _Yellow Flash_ broke his serious, bad-ass, battle expression into overflowing concern. It was strange. In all the pictures he had seen of him, the Fourth had looked so incredibly intimidating, but seeing other emotions on his features made Naruto's heart warm.

"It's alright, what's wrong? Don't cry, you're okay, I'm here."

His voice was clear, golden. It wasn't quite bass, but it was deep and comfortable, making him feel warmer although his words made absolutely no sense, they were soothing and calm. Like a voice Naruto could only dream was spoken to him in all his unlucky lonliness.

In a rush, he remembered it all again. The pain, collapsing, Kyuubi's voice, all of it. Comprehension of the voices below him dawned, as well as the Yondaime's words, but they made absolutely, one-hundred percent, no sense. Confused for the umpteenth time that day, he closed his eyes again to become aware of his surroundings in an effort to understand this mess of seeming illusions and genjutsu, but he knew he wasn't dreaming. The images presented to him were not of the fuzzy, dream-like quality, but potently real.

Years back, Kakashi had taught him an exercise that would allow him to reconstruct a mental picture of his surroundings in his mind by using a sixth sense. After many explanations, and a whole heck of a lot of practice, he mastered the exercise.

His findings were… interesting, and made no more sense than anything else currently did, and right now that sense had accumulated to the level of Sasuke skipping around the village in a tutu. In summary, NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.

From what he could discern, he was on top of Gamabunta with the Yondaime, who was… holding him. Yeah, no typo. All evidence pointed to the fact that he, Uzumaki Naruto, was a miniscule little _baby._ Well…that's what it looked like. He forced his body to shift around in the Yondaime's arms. Yep, definitely smaller.

Before he could ponder the current predicament further, the _Yellow Flash_ spoke again, addressing the crowd below.

"Platoons six, nine, and thirteen, scout the perimeter, make sure it's gone. ANBU one rendezvous with with platoon seven. Squad four, find the injured. Squad thirty-six and twenty, signal the medics."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

"Yes sir!"

"Affirmative."

"Roger that!"

Naruto watched as the Hokage sighed to himself, "Of course it's gone, but it gives them something to do while they don't understand... Isn't that right, Naruto?"

Naruto opened his eyes again, just as the light disappeared, revealing that it was actually night time. With a grunt from the exhausted great toad boss below, the large amphibian poofed out of existence, while simultaneously he saw the Yondaime perform an all-too-familiar hand seal.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Art of the Shadow Doppelganger."

Two clones, the Yondaime, and himself, fell in freefall towards the ground in the place the boss had been standing. They all landed softly on a field, in which every single blade of grass was drenched in blood.

Naruto turned his head to the side and saw gore and carnage beyond anything he had ever seen. Fourth Great Shinobi War, every single assassination, and all the Mist's scenes were scratches compared to this. Hundreds of mutilated, lifeless bodies littered the emblazoned landscape, bringing hot, stinging tears to his eyes again.

"Hey, what'd I say about crying? Hmm?"

The Yondaime, who, although his voice was threatening to crack, seemed to possess larger quantities of forbearance.

Then the elder blonde, still cradling Naruto in his arms, performed a new hand sign, while the clones ran off, presumably to help with whatever was going on. Naruto felt a tug and a rushing sensation for a split second, and then they were in the Hokage's office.

"M-Mina-to-o?" someone spluttered.

"We thought you'd…" someone else started.

But before either of the speakers could continue, the Yondaime spoke in that wonderful calming voice. Hearing it the second time delivered just the same impact as the first to Naruto's ears. He could just doze off into bliss... Naruto feverishly memorized the flowing melody, not wanting it to escape. He now understood how the fourth [apparently named Minato] could command armies and sweet talk the council into complacency.

"I know, I know, but what matters is that the demon's gone, and I didn't have to perform a seal. Have a look at _this_."

Naruto was gingerly placed on the cool, wooden desktop, and the immaculately soft, blue blanket wrapped around him was involuntarily shifted, exposing his torso and belly.

One of the people who had spoken stood up and leaned over him, revealing younger version of Jiraiya.

Naruto snorted in amusement.

Jiraiya grinned at him and poked his nose.

Naruto bit his finger.

A yelp and a few profanities later, Naruto attempted to laugh hysterically, but only succeeded in shrieking with babyish giggles.

"Damn, Minato, your kid's barely a day old, but he's already a little demon! Look at 'im!"

Somehow the word 'demon' made the Yondaime stiffen briefly before he replied, "Aw, c'mon oyaji, he doesn't even have teeth! …yet…"

Naruto gave his best impression of his signature grin, minus the teeth.

However happy Naruto seemed on the outside, he was confused, _yet again_. It was almost as if Jiraiya was implying that Naruto was the Yondaime's son.

Ludicracy.

The Yondaime was a lot of things, but he was most certainly not his father. If anything, Naruto should hate this man with the gentle, smooth voice. This was the one who had condemned him to a lifetime of torment by the villagers. This was the man that destroyed what would've been a normal life. Naruto would've never grown up alone. Or abused. Or forgotten. Or spat at. Or despised wherever he went. Or hated and feared wherever he went. Or charged extra at low costing stores because he was the demon's container. Or ignored because he was the only reason the villagers lived at all.

There were a lot of 'or's'.

Too many, that is.

The other speaker from earlier came into view, revealing a younger Sandaime, and the three started peering at him, specifically at his stomach. 'Wait, they're looking at Kyuubi's seal!' thought Naruto. 'But, why? What the hell is going on?! The Yondaime's _alive_, and the old geezer and ero-sennin are at least _a decade younger_!! What the hell?! WHAT THE _HELL_?!'

His confused musings were interrupted, however, when Jiraiya made a hand sign for a sealing Jutsu. 'Ram,' thought Naruto, 'SHIT he's gonna knock me out...'

Naruto's thought was left unfinished as Jiraiya touched his forehead.

**

* * *

**

Nothing again.

"**WRONG AGAIN."**

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in Kyuubi's sewer.

"Shit," he repeated, outloud this time.

"**Such naughty language,"** sighed Kyuubi. **"for a kit as young as yourself."**

Naruto sat up, finding that he was back in his eighteen year-old body. He was suddenly aware that his stomach was sore, as it throbbed violently, proof that the pain in the Godaime's office was inescapably real.

"Where are we?" asked Naruto. "What happened?"

"_**WARPEIN RESTRICTATUM**_**, or _Warp Restriction_ to you non-demons,"** began Kyuubi. **"Your irritating father placed a **_**SEALATE WARPEIN**_**, or _Warp Seal_, right alongside the _Shikki Fuujin_."**

Naruto remained silent. Speaking would only piss off the great fox for interrupting.

"**This seal would allow your soul to continue to live for an indefinite period of time after his death and the initial sealing, before it would be forced back, via _SEALATE WARPEIN_, to the exact moment before he sealed me,"** spat Kyuubi. **"In summary, you get to relive your entire existence again from the very beginning, but with... parents. PATHETIC HUMANS,"** the fox added as an afterthought.

A pause, in which no one spoke.

"What. The. FUCK?!"

"**AGAIN WITH THIS LANGUAGE!!"**

"That's ridiculous!"

"**Is it? I would say that you would know enough about seals from your experiences to know better. Tell _me_, is it?"**

Another pause, in which Naruto considered this far-fetched theory. The _Shikki Fuujin_ was the jutsu that took Minato's life as a sacrifice to seal the Kyuubi in the real world. If this _Sealate Warpein_ was real, that would mean the sealed Kyuubi and himself would come back to the past...

After a minute, Naruto mumbled inaudibly.

"**WHAT DID YOU SAY?"**

Grudgingly, Naruto said, a little louder, "I said, I think it is possible."

**

* * *

**

**_Currently Reworking all the Chappies... but: Disclaimer - don't own the characters or the world... yet._**


	2. Chapter 2: Reasonings and Sealings

Neither Naruto, nor the great Demon in his navel, knew how time was measured in his mindscape, knew how time passed in the _seal_, but Naruto figured that if he was going to be stuck awhile, he should pester Kyuubi for more information regarding the recent turn of events.

"**I'M NOT,"** began the demon before Naruto could speak, **"Answering any of your questions until you do something for me."**

"Like what?" asked Naruto, suspiciously. The Kyuubi might want him to break the seal... which the fox already knew he wouldn't do for all the prizes in the world.

"**I'll answer all your questions, IF YOU WOULD PLEASE CHANGE THESE SURROUNDINGS. It sucks being in a sewer,"** sniffed Kyuubi.

Wow. The demon was going soft.

"Uh, how do I do that?"

"**USE YOUR MINISCULE BRAIN AND CONCENTRATE. This is YOUR mind after all."**

After awhile, Naruto successfully turned the scenery outside the cage into a plain, grassy field with a large Koi pond. A few minutes later, the same effect was achieved on the fox's side, only much larger to accommodate the large demon. Naruto even went so far as to implant a sort of den for the fox to sleep in.

Kyuubi stretched and cracked a few neck vertebrae.

"**AH, SPACE AND IMAGINARY FRESH AIR,"** sighed Kyuubi with pleasure. **"Fire away."**

"First question, why the heck is everyone deluded in thinking that the Yondaime is my father? Jiraiya in this world even said I was his _kid_, and usually people wouldn't joke about something like that. Seriously, _the Yondaime_ is related to _me_? Get real! I'm not his kid. Anyway, what kind of sick freak seals a goddamn demon in his kid? No offense," added Naruto at the end of his rant.

"**You are his kit,"** answered Kyuubi, who was now lying stomach down with his head resting on his enourmous red paws, **"And have always been. No matter the world, dimension or the timeframe. And before you say otherwise, THAT IS **_**EXACTLY**_** what that idiot representative in your Godaime's office was going to tell you, SO DON'T SAY OTHERWISE."**

Naruto had his suspicions, and a lot of 'em, but hearing the news that his idol, of all people, was his father came as a sort of shock. Oh yeah, and said idol happened to be the one that condemned him to be a jinchuuriki for the rest of his life. Wow. Story of a lifetime.

He sighed.

In the real world, he had always imagined that he was simply lost, and that one day, if he became well-known enough, (i.e. Hokage) his kaasan and tousan might come find him and be proud that he was protecting the village with all his might.

Foolish dreams.

But wait, kaasan? What about his mother?

"Who was my kaasan? Is she still alive? I mean in this world? What if something changed here?"

"**As much fun I would have had gutting her trough with my claws, I do not know her fate with the changes the seal has made to the past. However in the old world, Uzumaki Kushina was dead. I do not know the details, do not ask, but I do know she passed on in one of the noble ways to die."**

"Care to elaborate on these two ways?" spat a bitter and angry Naruto. You'd be angry to if someone told you they would take pleasure in killing _your_ mom.

"**To die protecting something precious, or bringing a new soldier and life into the world."**

"Hmph. Never thought I'd hear 'protecting something precious' come out of _your_ bloody maw."

"**Why did you think I was slaughtering your pathetic excuse for shinobis IN THE FIRST PLACE?"** snarled Kyuubi, who stood up with inhuman speed.

"What'd we do?" snapped Naruto.

"**THAT UCHIHA BASTARD KILLED MY KITS! MY **_**KITS**_**! GODDAMN UCHIHA MADARA! YOU LEAF SHINOBI NEED TO ALL BE TORN APART PIECE BY **_**PIECE!!!"**_ roared Kyuubi in anguish.

Naruto was speechless. _Of course_ there had to be a reason why Kyuubi would attack. Although most had assumed it was done for pleasure, he supposed the demon beasts _did_ have families and feelings like everyone else.

"I'm sorry," said Naruto truthfully, "but that's only one man's deed, why didn't you kill _him_?"

Kyuubi glared at him and spoke. **"I wanted too. But in my rage in full form, everything in my path was like to be destroyed, and that happened to be your village, where I knew he was from."**

"Uchiha Madara betrayed the village before you came. I don't think he was even alive at the time," Naruto replied, slowly switching into diplomacy mode. Befriending the Kyuubi would be a good thing for the near future.

"**ARGH! HE WAS THERE! I KNOW IT. IT was HE who was really in control of the Akatsuki! HEH. THAT IS, UNTIL WE **_**SLAUGHTERED HIM**_** FOR GOOD."**

"So why do you still hold a grudge against my village?" asked Naruto, as he remembered killing that one Sharingan-user that he wasn't aware of previously.

There was a pause. It seemed as if Naruto's words were making the fox think. There really was no reason to hate the village any more. Naruto only hoped that the fox would think about it logically and swallow his dignity to come to terms that what he was doing was wrong.

After a long while, Kyuubi sighed hesitantly and reassumed his position on the grass.

"**I suppose hate the village... because your accursed father still sealed me into you... which is _ever _so irritating... Though he chose his vessel well, I would not have liked to be in a weak, pathetic shinobi,"** muttered Kyuubi dejectedly in a low voice.

Naruto took that last comment as a compliment, but nevertheless continued.

"The reason you were sealed in the first place was because you were attacking," Naruto reminded Kyuubi in a neutral tone. Naruto knew stating the obvious would prompt the Kyuubi to mull it all over... perhaps it would work out for the best if both the Kyuubi and his vessel were reconciled. Really, it was a win win situation. The fox wouldn't be so _bored_, and Naruto would have the full backing of the demon who filled his days with sleepless nights.

Another pause.

"**HUHHUH, I suppose you are correct. HMMM… perhaps if I am ever freed the first thing on my to-do list will not be to destroy your little village. CHE! ONE-ZERO _NARU-KIT_,"** huffed Kyuubi, whose malicious aura surprisingly faded, if only slightly enough to be detected.

"Naru-kit?"

"**New nickname. LIKE IT OR BE EATEN."**

"I'm flattered."

"**HUH! You should be,"** smirked Kyuubi, whose aura was now being replaced with another, less overwhelming one.

"I'm glad you see reason," said Naruto, also smirking. "Truce?"

"**CHE. Not quite,"** replied a grinning Kyuubi. **"you should feel honored to have a demon, let alone the _most powerful_ demon as a friend."**

"Whoa! Friends too?" asked Naruto, taken aback.

"**IF you don't want to be my friend,"** The malicious aura returned full force. **"YOU COULD ALWAYS BE MY ENEMY,"** suggested Kyuubi menacingly.

"Nah! Friends it is. Wow, you aren't that bad after all!" said a sarcastic and relieved Naruto, as the aura dispersed again.

"**Anymore inquiries?"**

"What do you think I should do about this whole time-travel thing? From what you're saying, I get to live my entire life over again, meaning that I could change everything! I could make Konoha a better place! I could make sure Sasuke would never leave! Heck, I could even make sure Itachi was stopped!" said Naruto excitedly. "Plus, now I have a family, so no one will hate me! Heh! I could be a prodigy! I've already gained seventeen years of experience, and I know a lot of Jutsu! HAHA! I could even show Yond–err... tousan the Fuuton Rasengan! Heh, I'd _love_ to see his face," smiled Naruto. It was weird calling the Yondaime tousan.

"**I suggest a few things,"** began Kyuubi. **"First, do not show off any jutsu you haven't already learned. Too many troublesome questions will not be welcome. Limit it to _Kage Bunshin_, maybe a few elemental jutsu, and no _Rasengan until someone teaches you_. Second, do not assume that everything that happened in the past will happen again, but feel free to intrude into things that seem like they will. Do NOT allow Itachi to destroy the Uchiha clan, meaning that you must expose the council's plan and prevent it from happening. Even if you fail, I do not see any problems with bringing that little whelp of an Uchiha back to Konoha if that it what you wish. He is no match for your current self. Even if by some obscure chance he is marked with the _Heavenly Curse Seal_, It will make no difference. "** finished Kyuubi.

"Yeah, I agree completely. Though why not tell Minato who I really am? Surely he might guess eventually?"

"**No. It is unnecessary and too difficult to try and explain. Allow him to think he is raising a normal son,**" advised the fox. "**OOO… AND I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING!"** said Kyuubi excitedly. **"Your father will probably want to teach you the _Hiraishin_! HUHHUH, how nice it will feel to have the wind whipping around you at superspeed!"**

"Oh yeah! That means that I'll be invincible! YES! I shall surpass my tousan!" grinned Naruto. "Ok so here's the deal. I change everything, make sure it's all great, and then become Hokage! Awesome! I think I better take this seriously though… the alternative to making everything better is having it be screwed over."

"**I AGREE. Are you satisfied?"**

"Nah, I think that's everything. If I think of something else, can I come back and ask?"

"**I SUPPOSE. Company is welcome, though try not to be irritating... I have grown accustomed to sleeping for several days at a time..."**

"Great. Now what happens?" asked Naruto.

"**We wait. They are probably already done, I no longer feel the seal on your conscious. Try and go back whenever you want."**

"Ok. Bye Kyuub's."

"**DON'T PUSH IT, NARU-KIT,"** warned Kyuubi, bemusedly.

* * *

Naruto felt his consciousness slip back into the real world, and, a few seconds later, opened his eyes to stare at a white hospital ceiling.

He was wrapped in something warm and soft inside an indubator... probably a neonatal unit. Though his limbs still felt thick and ever-so irritatingly small, Naruto felt like he could sell his soul to the _Shinnigami_ ten times over just to stay like this forever. He shifted his fuzzy gaze to the side in an attempt to see his surroundings, to find his gaze on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, lying in a bed right beside his unit.

And she was looking back.

With a smile that had love etched on every feature of her face.

Love, of the unconditional variety.

She had very long red hair and light blue eyes. Eyes that reminded him faintly of his own, only that his were a slightly darker shade, like his father's.

"Hi Naru-chan. Did you sleep well? I know Jiraiya put that seal on you, but you're okay now right? It's alright, kaasan is here."

His heart felt warm, and it threatened to burst with joy.

Naruto unwillingly closed his eyes to ascertain his surroundings again. They were in a small, private room of the hospital, with a table in the far corner with a few chairs haphazardly arranged around it. He also noticed that his fleecy blanket had a red embroidered swirl on an exposed fold. The symbol was just like the patches he would put on his clothes as his own sort of clan seal or personal crest. Now he could see that there really was reality to the idea, a pile of his mother's clothing draped across one of the chairs had it on them. Nothing else was in the room, other than a few medical machines and a surge protector. A large window with an overcast backdrop was set into the wall on the other side of Naruto's incubation unit and parallel to the door on the opposite wall. There was also a small nightstand with a vase of flowers, and an empty ramen bowl.

"Hey! Minato, get in here, Naru-chan is awake!" Uzumaki Kushina commanded as she turned her head towards the door.

Naruto heard footsteps and a door open, and a few seconds later saw both his parents looking at him, smiling. His father's radiant happiness seeping into everything around him, lighting the room, but that might have also been the dawn light breaking through the clouds and streaming into the room.

His heart warmed a few more degrees, and before he could help himself, began to cry. To onlookers, it did not look like an upset and distraught baby, but an infant who was crying genuine tears of happiness. His kaasan opened the incubation unit, pulling him closer and kissing his forehead affectionately. Her spiky and out of sorts bangs tickled his nose and he giggled.

She smiled again.

He smiled back.

She handed him to Minato, who told Kushina that he would be right back with Naruto, but that he first had to go tell the villagers what happened. Kushina laughed at him and told him the only reason he was going out, was because he wanted to show Naru-chan to every person he could find in a fifty mile radius.

"If you were in my place, you'd do the exact same thing," Minato laughed. And Kushina whole-heartedly agreed.

"Konoha! I bring you the best of news. The nine-tailed fox demon, Kyuubi, has been defeated, but through unorthodox means," began Minato, who stood on top of the Hokage tower addressing the huge crowd below with Naruto in his arms. "Before I tell you how, I take pleasure in informing you that…" Minato cleared his throat. "I'M A DAD!!"

The citizens roared with happiness. Most had known that the Yondaime's wife was pregnant, and they couldn't blame their Kage for being happy despite recent events. They were also elated at the news that the demon who threatened to destroy everything had been subdued successfully.

"My son, Namikaze Naruto, was born late last night, two hours after the demon began destroying the surrounding towns and heading towards Konoha." Minato's face grew serious.

"Meaning that he was the only child born today, and the only child that had to make a sacrifice to save the village. One day, he will be angry with me for what I have done, but I, Yondaime Hokage of Konoha, must tell you that I had to seal the unstoppable beast into my only son. I tell you this with a warning. Many of my peers have urged me to make this an S-class secret thinking that you will hate him for what he is: the jailer of the Kyuubi. I must make this clear: he is NOT the Kyuubi, he is my son, who will be the protector of this village by keeping the demon at bay."

The roar of rage that spread through the crowd was overwhelming.

"So WHAT?! It must be killed! Even you should know that!"

"That poor child!"

"No way! Wasn't there some other alternative?"

"Yeah! No one should have to carry that burden all by himself!"

"Wait, what happens if Kyuubi is released? How can a simple child hold all that power?"

"Can he be released?"

"Probably!"

"Poor, innocent little boy!"

All the villagers were angry at the prospect that the Kyuubi was still alive. Of that number, a portion was calling for the death of the child, but those who now knew Naruto was the Yondaime's son thought better of it... It would be formidable indeed to have a copy of the Fourth with the added power of a fox demon. Many others were feeling for the boy who had to bear the burden.

"If there was any other method, I would have used any other self-sacrificing Jutsu," replied Minato to the crowd, solemnly. "I really wish that there was another option."

"_Damn right you do!", _thought Naruto, "_you have no idea how much this caused me once upon a time..."_

Naruto felt his heart warm again. The villagers cared now that they knew his background. The Sandaime hadn't told them where Naruto had come from... perhaps that if they knew he was a son of their prized ninja and not just some random child, they wouldn't have warped their views into naming him the actual beast instead.

Minato sighed and continued. "There is no way that Kyuubi can escape my seal. I am certain of it," said Minato firmly, addressing the villager who had called for the murder of his son. "I can also assure you that nothing will ever harm this village AGAIN!" finished Minato whom the villagers replied with another roar of approval.

"Alright, daybreak is almost here, so I want you all to go home and get some rest, because tomorrow we must all lend a hand to help. There will be a meeting at eleven for all citizens in fit condition to help rebuild. Bring all of your tools. If you do not have a place to sleep or stay, or do not have access to necessities, please line up in one of twenty-four different lines here and a team of ninja will help each of you. Also…" Minato continued on for a few minutes, addressing other problems before finishing with a salute and a goodnight.

A few Kage Bunshin and a simple _shunshin_ later, they were walking in the hospital corridor.

"_Uh oh..." _Naruto thought as a very, _very_ similar chakra signature came zooming towards them...

"SENSEI!! WHERE IS HE?!"

"Huh?"

Minato turned around only to be quite literally bowled over by a fifteen-year-old mini Kakashi. This resulted in two things. First, Naruto was promptly dropped onto the linoleum tile, while the Yondaime was thrown back to hit the opposite wall. Second, when Minato stood up, picked up the hysterically laughing Naruto, and proceeded to yell at Kakashi for his negligence, a very tired and vicious kaasan named Uzumaki Kushina came tearing out of a hospital room, looking all the world like someone was going to die.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" she shrieked.

Kakashi cowered in fear and immediately began squealing cries of "Gomen! I didn't know! I'm sorry! AHHHHHHHHH!"

After much screaming and yelling on Naruto's parental unit's part, waking up the rest of the hospital, beating Kakashi into a pulp and burning his little pornos, checking to see if Naru-chan was okay, and reassuring the nurses that no one would be suffering lasting injuries (except Kakashi), the Cyclops was allowed to hold a smirking and snorting Naruto.

"Hmm.. he looks just like your clone, sensei..." muttered Kakashi to a still angry Minato. "Except for those little lines on his cheeks…"

Needless to say that there were many sweatdrops all around. "_Well that's obvious..."_

They went back into Kushina's hospital ward where Kakashi was filled in on all the recent events.

"Wait, so you didn't seal the Kyuubi? Wouldn't you be dead?" asked a confused Kakashi.

"What I am about to tell you," said Minato in a very serious voice, "is an SS-class secret that no one, other than you, me, Kushina, Sarutobi, and Jiraiya will ever know. You are not allowed under any circumstance to tell anyone. You know the rules... and the consequences."

"I understand."

Minato performed several hand signs, making in the edges of the room glow blue for a few seconds, dispersing any potential eavesdropping jutsus and making the room impervious to spying from the outside.

"Namikaze Naruto's seal does not consist of only the _Shikki Fuujin_, but has an addition seal called a _Sealate Warpein_. Now, we don't exactly know what this means, but I have a theory. Before I tell you the theory, I'll give you some background info on the seal itself. First, this seal is incredibly difficult to create, but can feasibly be used alongside the _Shikki Fuujin_, but only because of the structure. I don't know how the _Sealate Warpein_ actually got there, but I do know that the seal activated somewhere in the future, making time revert back to right before I performed any hand signs, so I didn't end up having to kill myself. I do know that because Naruto's soul will forever be attached to Kyuubi's, this _Sealate Warpein_ destroyed the Kyuubi of this world. Two souls of the same person cannot exist in the same timeframe. The Shodaime proved that with all _his_ theories."

"So basically, Naruto and Kyuubi's souls are attached by _Shikki Fuujin_, and because of the _Sealate Warpein_, you're not dead!"

"In a nutshell."

There were smiles all around as Minato dispelled the privacy Jutsu.

"Yeah, I can't believe my luck! I had honestly thought that I wouldn't ever be there for my little Naru-chan. Thank Kami! Now I can be there," started Minato, who lifted Naruto up under his arms, "to watch you speak your first words, learn your first Jutsu, and see you graduate from the academy! You're going to be the best ninja in the world! I'm going to teach you _Kage Bunshin_, _Rasengan_, and maybe…" Minato smiled a grin reminiscent of Naruto's own, "the _Hiraishin_!"

Kakashi gagged, and Kushina choked on some water she was drinking, while Naruto's eyes went wide.

"_Yes!"_

"What? Can't I teach my kid my Jutsu?"

"Yeah but you said that no one else could learn the _Hiraishin._" spluttered Kakashi.

"I have two words," Minato smirked, "Kekkei. Genkai."

"Hmm… well that makes sense. No wonder you wouldn't tell me anything about it, I mean come on, I'm your sensei!" said Jiraiya, who slid open the door and walked inside. "Why'd you have that seal on the room?"

"Minato was filling in Kakashi," said Kushina, who put down her water and eyed up the empty bowl of ramen forlornly, before ordering Kakashi to fetch her some more and double-time it.

"_Yeah and bring me some back too! I'm starving over here! And I'll probably have to eat frikin baby food forever until I have TEETH,"_ Naruto mentally exclaimed as he watched Kakashi go.

"Ah! I see," replied Jiraiya, who went over to Minato. "Here, I can I see the little tyke?"

Minato passed Naruto to Jiraiya with a look that said: _Do anything and die._

"Aw… you look a lot like Minato. We'll need to get mommy to let you grow out these little side bangs and viola! Konoha's second _Yellow Flash_! Only this one has whiskers…" Jiraiya chuckled. "Hey, do you think when he's old enough, I should make him sign the toad summon contract?"

"Ugh, you two are going to make all those Jutsu go to his head," sighed Kushina.

"Don't worry, he's not getting any special treatment because he's your son, he's gonna have to work for it!" Jiraiya replied.

Naruto did his best impression of a face that said: "_BRING IT!!!!"_

"_HA! They don't know what they're getting themselves into! Let's see…master _Rasengan_ in a _day_, and learn_ Kage Bunshin _on the_ first try_…then perfect the _Rasengan_ at age fourteen... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THIS IS EPIC!! DATTEBAYO~!"_

Jiraiya handed Naruto back to Minato, who handed him to Kushina.

"So when are they going to release you and Naruto from the hospital?" asked Jiraiya, politely continuing the conversation.

"One of the nurses came in while you were gone with Naru-chan and told me another couple weeks for the both of us," Kushina replied, whose face implied that she wished her term of imprisonment was shorter.

At least Naruto knew where he had inherited his profound hate for hospitals. "_I bet she's been here loads of times from working herself out like I did when I was younger... And judging from dad's expression over there he isn't too pleased about it either. Bummer too... I get to sit around in an incubator doing nothing but pissing my pants for the next few weeks... this SUCKS!"_

"Well, the house and grounds survived the attack, so when you get out, you and Naruto can go home," said Minato. "I'll probably be really, really busy doing clean-up duty for at least a month. I can smell _so_ many headaches already."

"Yeah, I saw some of your _Kage Bunshin_ being harassed by some civilians on my way over here," Jiraiya chuckled. "At least this whole mess is over. Oh! I've been meaning to tell you that once I've done my share of clean-up duty and the village is back in order, I'm going travelling to gather information on Orochimaru... and that other organization we talked about that's beginning to make a mess of things... I'll keep sending back reports, but I'll be gone for awhile."

"Hey! Don't ditch me here with this mess of a village!" Minato whined, faking mock hurt.

"You're the one who's Hokage, not me," said a grinning Jiraiya, who was clearly unaffected by his pupil's antics.

There was much smiling and laughing all around, before Kushina announced that she was tired and wanted the baby to have a nice long nap to get better so they could go home sooner. So Jiraiya left, dragging a reluctant blonde Hokage with them, while Naruto was placed in the incubation unit. Then the lights were switched off, and his kaasan tucked him in with a kiss, before she told one of the nurses flittering in and around the hallway she was going to bed.

After a few minutes of mulling over everything that had recently just happened to him, Naruto began to drift off into the most peaceful sleep of his life. He had a tousan, a kaasan, and a chance to do it all over again. Life couldn't be any sweeter.

**

* * *

**


	3. Chapter 3: Home, Meetings, and Pinky

The next few days of Naruto's two week hospital stay dragged on. And on. AND ON. Seriously, when you're literally a few days old, there really isn't much you can do. Mostly, Naruto just slept and visited Kyuubi whenever his mom wasn't holding him, or when his dad dropped in for a general max of two minutes to say hello.

From what the nurses, his mother, and various other visitors were saying, the reconstruction of the village was going very well. As to be expected, Minato had created about a hundred _bunshin_ who were helping out wherever possible. Naruto knew that the fox hadn't breached the main wall, but the surrounding towns and dwellings had been razed to the ground. Not to mention the clearing of the gory battlefield was the biggest task. Despite families holding funerary services and grieving over their loved ones as they struggled to rebuild their livelihoods and happiness, Konoha was slowly regaining its former glory. His mother predicted that the village would be back on its feet in about six months.

"Hey little guy, guess what?" asked Kushina as she picked Naruto out of the crib. "We're going home tomorrow! You get to see the house, and your very own room! I'm sure you're very excited right?"

Naruto smiled and giggled, eliciting Kushina to make some funny faces at him... he couldn't help himself but to roar with laughter. It didn't help that tickling got involved... and defending himself against the terrible onslaught of laughter was nigh impossible with stubby legs and feet...

His kaasan was true to her word, and the next day, Minato came in with a few warm blankets to keep the baby warm against the pre-November chill.

Relieved to be finally getting out of the hospital, Naruto made sure to laugh and giggle a lot when they were leaving, though he found that keeping up the charade of 'the happy baby' wasn't as hard as he thought. By nature Naruto was a fun-loving hyperactive person... so add the fact that for the first time he actually had parents whose lives now centered around him... and you get the picture.

"You know," started Kushina, speaking to Minato, as they walked down the boulevard outside the hospital, "he hasn't cried at all during our stay. The nurses and I can't tell if he's hungry or not, because he's so quiet."

"Really? Is that normal? I always thought that babies cried all the time. Should we get that checked?" wondered a curious Minato, who peered at his son with a scrutinizing eye.

"_Hey Kyuub's is this gonna be a problem? Do you think they're always going to wonder like this... because if they are... my life isn't going to be very easy convincing them of what I'm supposed to be..."_Naruto trailed off... realizing that the fox wasn't listening to him. "_Damn kitsune... takin' a nap..."_

"Nah, I think he's just a happy baby, aren't you Naru-chan?" smiled Kushina, lifting Naruto up into the air and bouncing him around.

She was given a response with a happy shriek.

"See?"

"Yeah, but he's also really responsive! Is that normal? He seems really alert..."

"What do you mean?" asked Kushina, intrigued.

"Hey Naru-chan," said Minato, looking at Naruto mischievously, "are you going to be the best ninja in the world?"

"_It's showtime!" _thought Naruto. "_So what if they suspect... they'll be thrilled I'm a GENIUS!!! BAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH~!"_

He nodded his head and grinned. Both his parents stopped dead in their tracks.

"Do you love tousan and kaasan?" inquired Kushina. Another, more vigorous, nod and grin from Naru-chan.

"Do you like sleeping in the hospital?" asked the elder blonde. A very vigorous and deliberate shake of the head, indicating a 'no'.

"Can you understand everything we're saying?" asked an excited kaasan.

Naruto cocked his head in his best impression of a confused expression. He figured that was enough show for today. He didn't want his parents to know much about the possibility of a prodigy child. Not yet, anyway. They could just pass off the other answers as random. His parents looked at each other, smiled and debated how he could be doing that. Minato seemed wary... but undeniably happy. Kushina didn't think too much of it.

After another three minutes of leisurely walking and mild chat about village goings-on, they came to the edge of a wooded area Naruto had never been before... but was surprised he hadn't; the trees were enormous here! They veered left onto a wide, well-used path. The beginning of the path had a marker stone engraved with "Namikaze" in kanji with a whirl seal at the bottom.

Another minute and they entered into a small, one-acre field with a two-story house next to a large lake; a canopy of the titanic trees shadowing all but the centermost part of the lake. The dark green house wasn't overly large, but was fairly well-sized, with a wrap-around porch and balcony looking over the water, tucked inconspicuously on the edge of the forest. The Hokage tower was only a few miles away, but the location of the house was well planned for defense; the natural features of the trees and flat surface of the lake allowed for a solid barrier, and an easy place to see your enemies as they approached. An impressive tactical plan in Naruto's opinion, realizing that the hokage was must have this kind of protection as default. Naruto remembered all too clearly the urgency associated with naming a Godaime Hokage after the Oto-Suna attack on the main village under the ruse of the Chuunin exams.

The path narrowed as it inclined upwards towards the house's perch, and soon the family lept lightly up the short steps to the front door. Naruto watched with interest and awe as Minato took out a slip of paper with a seal and pressed it to door's center. Seal markings appeared all over the exterior of the house and glowed blue for a few seconds before a deadbolt unlocked.

There was a pause as the _Yellow Flash _rummaged around in his coat for some object, giving Naruto the opportunity to marvel at what was going on.

"_This is where I should have grown up... instead of that dingy apartment. I should have had the parents I deserved,_" Naruto thought glumly. But with a shock of the nature of the situation around him, Naruto sucked in a ragged and involuntary gasp. It felt like his eyes were opening for the first time. This place was where his _real_ childhood would begin, unhampered by the evils of the angry villagers. This wwould be his the place he would come home to after missions. Even though he was technically seventeen, with no need for emotional comforts, this new experience... new place... "_This is... **home**."_

Minato found the object he was looking for, pulling out a small, ordinary house key and opened another lock, and slid the door on its tracks to the left, literally opening the door to a new chapter in Naruto's restarted life.

But before he could try to drink in the homey-feel of the house he was about to step into for the first time, an immense dark red blur shot out from the doorway, tackling his mother to the ground with a thump onto the cedar porch deck.

"Oof! Akira, what's up?" grunted Kushina in greeting, to watever it was that had caught her off guard.

"'Shina-taichou, where were you? Where's the baby? What happened to Kyuubi? TELL ME! That damn ANBU-brat won't tell me anything! C'mon! C'mon!" said a rough female voice, whose demanding impatience grated on Naruto's nerves. How dare this intruder mess with his long awaited home-coming? Ironic really, Naruto remembered himself being a rambunctious kid when he was younger... did _he _used to sound like that? Surely not.

"In order," Naruto heard Kushina say as she pushed the thing off and stood up, "I was in the hospital, Minato's holding the baby, and Minato sealed the bastard, all like we discussed. Where is Tiger anyway?"

"I don't know probably double checking on some seal that's already _fine—_ let me see the baby!!!" demanded the supposed 'Akira'.

"Okay, okay! Calm down and I'll explain everything later," said Kushina, taking Naruto from Minato (who rolled his eyes as if this happened everyday). "This is Naruto."

Kushina gingerly placed him into two large furry... _paws_?

Curiosity overwhelming his irritation, Naruto twisted around in his blanket to stare a red, five foot tall _fox _sitting on its haunches. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the red Uzumaki clan symbol on the back of a giant, dark blue cloth band covering his torso and midsection. Mentally arching an eyebrow, Naruto pondered this significance. This Akira was either a summon animal, or something like an Inuzuka fighting partner, but Naruto had never heard of something like that for an Uzumaki... so much as he knew, it wasn't even a real _clan, _just a last name and a crest of the swirl adopted from the old Uzu village. But it seemed like this fox was taking up residence here... and hadn't been summoned. He eyed the Konoha hiate tied under the foxes ears curiously. Naruto supposed he would find out eventually.

"OOO! He's so cute! He looks _just _like Minato! And," Akira smiled a foxy grin (oh the irony), "he's got fully developed chakra! So special at such a young age! You know that's pretty rare among fox kits!"

At this last comment, both Minato and Kushina's jaws dropped to the floor.

"He _WHAT_?" asked a very bewildered Kushina.

"_I've got fully developed chakra?" _thought Naruto. "_Does this have something to do with the time-conversion from the seal?_"

"**MHMM. Chakra is the mixing of physical and spiritual bodies. You have a seventeen year old soul. You have a body. You have chakra." **

"_Thanks Kyuub's," _

"Oh yes, he definitely has very well-developed chakra, he must be a soul that's been around the reincarnation cycle awhile. I can tell. Here see for yourself! He'll be a perfect ninja one day," Akira said happily, as she handed Naruto back to Kushina.

"_You have no idea," _thought Naruto, thinking of the seal and how old he technically was.

Kushina formed an awkward hand sign and put three fingers on his bare stomach.

"HOLY _SHIT_! Minato, tell me, is _THAT_ normal?" asked a very bewildered and _nervous _Kushina. Her eyes were wide and upset, as she looked over Naruto, locking gazes and peering into his (posed) innocent eyes with worry. Naruto shifted uncomforably around, running through scenarios for what might happen with this new information... plus what his father had said earlier about his alertness...

"I'll ask Jiraiya. I'm certain it doesn't have to do with … uh… the seal," Minato reassured Kushina, sounding very confident in his opinion. He _did _make the seal after all. "Besides, he _is _a Namikaze... but I'm not sure about the _complete_ part..."

"_Oh great. They might think I'm Kyuubi… just great."_

The two humans and one fox walked over to a few plastic chairs on the porch and sat down. It wasn't a nice day outside, a little chilly and overcast, but Naruto was still bursting with happiness and excitement... he wanted to get _inside _so that he could see the house he was destined to live in... previous life or no. Instead, Naruto had to be _patient _as his parents filled the attentive fox in on everything that had happened while they were away from the house for, apparently, awhile. Naruto wondered why Akira, who seemed to focus most of her attention on Kushina hadn't been a part of fighting the Kyuubi.

"So pretty much, we've got a happy ending, or beginning," said the fox, thinking of Naruto.

"Yeah I guess! Hey, let's go show Naru-chan his room!" Kushina said, excitedly.

"_FINALLY!"_

They all stood up and traipsed across the threshold and into a little reception parlor, with a curved staircase in the right hand corner dissappearing upwards to another level set into the wall. A simple rug covered a fraction of the hardwooded floor area preluding an open entrance into a spacious dojo. There were plants _everywhere_. Hanging ferns in windows, tidy potted plants stuffed onto every available surface, even a rectangular-shaped drop off in the middle of the room filled with soil for an indoor garden. Naruto glanced up at the ceiling, which was apparently made of glass; perfect for providing all the photosynthesizing plants with a light source.

Naruto was carried up the stairs onto the second floor, where he could look over the landing and see the front entrance, the entire parlor, and all the many plants creeping up towards the light. The hallway they passed into had lots of other doors, but they turned left and soon ended up in the coolest room Naruto had ever seen. It really didn't look like a baby's room at all, probably his mother's influence, who didn't seem like the person to go all goo-goo-gaga. In fact, it looked more like a teenager's room, which suited Naruto _just fine_. The walls were painted a soft orange, with a light blue carpet. In one corner was a white, wooden crib with lots of orange blankets. In the other corner was a queen-sized bed with the Namikaze swirl on the light blue comforter. Naruto thought that the orange and yellow shams were an excellent touch.

"_Perfect!"_ he thought as he smiled and gurgled with his baby voice box. "_I can't believe this is finally happening! I can't think of all the times I've sat on the old man's head at the tower and dreamed about this..."_

"I guess he likes it!" said Minato.

* * *

For the next four years, Minato and Kushina were continually surprised by their son's _remarkable _progress. They quickly learned that their Naru-chan was _not_ to be classified as _normal_. And every time something out of the ordinary happened, their amazement in their son increased tenfold.

Three days after Naruto's arrival at the Namikaze household, unidentifiable enemy ninjas decided to take advantage of the weakened village border defenses, and while Minato was away one night working late at the office, they had breeched the seal and infiltrated the Namikaze residence with the intent to murder Naruto. They were swiftly killed by a very, VERY, pissed off Minato, who had _Hiraishin_'ed to the scene when he felt the seal breaking, but they were already under a form of genjutsu when he arrived. Following the incident, Naruto's crib was moved into Minato and Kushina's room until he was older. The parental unit still had their suspicions, but a young Itachi Uchiha had done something similar when he was younger, so they didn't let it worry them _overmuch_.

As time went on by, more and more interesting occurences involving Naruto confounded all that the little blondie came into contact with. Eventually, everyone who had a part in taking care of Naruto had a story to tell... all of them having some kind of fantastic event to make friends laugh... mostly at their own expense.

Whenever Kushina needed to go into town and Minato couldn't babysit, they had Kakashi or Jiraiya come over, although the former more often because Kushina didn't really trust the influence Minato's old teacher might have on her perfect son. On one particular occasion, when the house's ANBU guardian Tiger was away on a mission and Kakashi was babysitting, Minato had come home before Kushina to find a pink-haired Hatake. Literally. When asked what had transpired, Kakashi said nothing, but instead glared at a wet, stark naked blonde baby crawling around on the ceiling.

"Baby. Bath. Paint can. Door. Figure it out."

"How the hell is he doing that?" Minato wondered aloud, his head thrown back to get a better look at his son's progress across the glass skylight.

"Beats me. You know how his chakra's fully developed? Did you teach him to do that?" fumed Kakashi.

"No that's not what I meant, where did he get the paint... ?"

Afterwards, Naruto's caretakers learned that when looking for a certain yellow-haired baby (especially around the hated _bathtime_), you'd do well to look on the ceilings, walls, behind cabinets, inside jackets, under comforters, under the sofa, and in Akira's nest.

To this day, Kakashi's hair has dark pink roots if you look carefully. The stuff never really _quite_ washed out...

* * *

In a later instance of Naruto's 'genius', when he was about seven months old, Jiraiya was graced with the honor of hearing Naruto's first word.

"Wervwert."

Jiraiya looked up from his newest porno—erm... romance novel that he was reading while Naruto was eating.

"What did you say Naruto?"

"I swaid pwervert."

Jiraiya, still looking confused, asked the little blondie again to repeat it one more time.

Naruto scrunched up his face in concentration.

"Pervwert!"

This time, Jiraiya got the message, and he picked up the giggling blonde and whisked him off to the Hokage's office at top speed.

"Your. Son just. First said. Word his?" tried Jiraiya who was still shocked and bewildered.

It seemed that Minato took the words and reformed them in a correct grammatical structure on his own, because he looked at Naruto eagerly.

"Can you repeat what you just said to Jiraiya for tousan?"

Naruto promptly turned around and blurted into Jiraiya's face:

"Pervert!"

Thus, Naruto's first word was not 'mama' or 'dada' it was: Pervert.

Needless to say, there was some howling with laughter on Minato's part.

* * *

Minato started to notice disappearing shurikken and kunai that would miraculously end up stuffed in plants, under Naruto's bed, or inside the china cabinet. Minato also learned _first hand _that any object smaller than Naruto's little fist could and would be thrown with deadly accuracy. All sharp, pointy objects were henceforth banned from Naruto's line of sight.

One day when Naruto was three, with no available babysitter around, Minato had no choice but to bring him to the office. Unfortunately, he was having a big, important, formal meeting with the Mizukage from Kirigakure, so Minato had to dress Naruto up in a formal kimono. Naruto rolled his eyes at the garment, but wore it all the same because it meant he would be able to get out of the house for a glimmer of what a hokage had to do. It was black with an orange print of embroidered daffodils his mother had bought for him. As they walked around Konoha later in the day, a few of the villagers who knew who he was and weren't fox-haters squealed at his cuteness. When they arrived at the meeting place, his tousan told him to sit in the far corner next to the elders and not say anything, with his back straight and absolutely _no _fidgeting. When the Mizukage, recognizing Naruto immediately as the Leaf's Jinchuuriki from his black whisker marks, commented how well-behaved he was, the elders decided that the blondie would be in attendance to key diplomatic meetings because of this influence.

One time, in December, Minato and the Yondaime Kazekage were trying to set up security around a new, key section of a Konoha/Suna border, but couldn't figure out a way to do it within the limited budget of the two hidden villages. Rolling his eyes, Naruto remembered the plan that _he _helped make so long ago for Konoha for this exact area when the old hag and Gaara were trying to fix the same spot.

Before anyone could say anything, Naruto stood and moved to the table with the small strategy pieces that represented platoons. He rearranged the pieces into the simplest and most effective plan, ignoring the glare he was getting from his father.

"Hokage-sama, is this your child?" asked the Kazekage in monotone. The Yondaime Kazekage looked over at Naruto with mild interest, recognition flashing in his eyes as he too, like the Mizukage, realized who and what Naruto was.

Naruto returned the look with blank stare. He was all too aware that unlike the Yondaime _Ho_kage, this Kazekage had intentionally _sought out _to turn his third son into a Jinchuuriki. Deeply, Naruto didn't care if it was for the protection of the village or for jealousy of the power of Naruto's bijuu that drove him to make Gaara into a vessel. All he saw was a strategian with a ruthless heart.

"_Gaara... just hold on... I'll think of something to save you from the pain they're causing you! Now that's a promise!_" thought Naruto bitterly.

"Yes, he is," Minato replied. "_NARUTO! No ramen for a we—"_

"Absolutely genius," stated the Kazekage, breaking Minato's thought.

Sure enough, Minato looked down and studied the pieces, astounded to find them in a formation that fit _all_ the criteria he had set out to meet... really the new plan was flawless.

Minato glanced at Naruto, who had resumed his position next to his father on a cushion, and smiled at him. He received a bright, toothy smile back, from the adorable three-year-old.

The council amped up their demand that Naruto go with Minato wherever there was any kind of foreign diplomacy mission, in or _out _of Konohagakure.

Unfortunately, this little stunt earned Naruto a boost on his already growing reputation in and out of the village.

"Did you know that the Hokage's son, Namikaze Naruto, is _three _and he can already read and speak? He's also got fully developed chakra!"

"Yeah! Didn't you hear though? He helped with some strategy when two Kage couldn't!"

"NO WAY!"

* * *

Kushina learned that little Haruno Sakura _loved _messing with her son's hair. Whenever she and Mrs. Haruno would visit, they would bring their respective child over for a play date while they chatted about missions and village happenings. Naruto would sit on the floor, immobile, while Sakura stood and flittered around the blondie, putting little bows and ribbons in the yellow mess, especially on his little side-bangs that he seemed to have inherited from his father. She didn't know how he put up with the constant brushing or pulling.

Naruto loved playing with little Hyuuga Hinata, who was quite small for being only two months younger. Hinata also seemed to have a thing for Naruto. Whenever someone would come in through the front door to report to Minato (which happened _all _the time), she would scamper behind Naruto, who would sit up and smile at the newcomer. Naruto always gave his little "'Nata-chan" a hug before she left with her mom. Kushina was already having devious thoughts.

"Namikaze Hinata, huh? Or even Namikaze Sakura? Ooo… maybe even Inoichi's little girl… Namikaze Ino?" chuckled the maniac mama fox.

But, the cutest thing by _far _was when Naruto's 'best friend evar' came over. Kushina learned that little Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi, like the other children loved playing with her son. When her good friend Mikoto would come over for tea, she would bring both boys. While Naruto seemed a little wary of Itachi, he played random games with both boys for the duration of the visit. Mostly with Sasuke though, because Itachi, even at five, stood a good distance and observed them, despite Naruto's inclusion of everyone. Naruto brought out the best in Sasuke, with his rambunctious and ever-active behavior, he started to leave a mark on the little Sasuke, who (according to Mikoto) smiled and even _laughed _the most around Naruto. Which reassured Mikoto about her childrens' happiness... unlike most Uchiha, she was _not_ the cold bastard type.

There was one particular day when Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba, Naruto and Sasuke were all put together in one room. When the parents came back two hours later, they found Naruto sprawled in Sasuke's lap, Shikamaru lying closely by his other side, Kiba's head on Shikamaru, and tiny Akamaru draped across Shikamaru's nose. All completely knocked out in slumber.

All parental units dropped what they were carrying and scrambled for a camera. Shouts of "OMG KAWAII!" were heard all over the village. When a similar incident happened with Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura—Kushina nearly died from all the cuteness.

* * *

Akira, the wily fox, learned more than anyone about our hyperactive protagonist. Now that he thought about it, Naruto figured that the fox had more suspicions than anyone... she was of course the first one to notice his abnormal chakra patterns. Naruto's worry that the ever-so-sly kitsune would find out more than was completely necessary was confirmed the night of his fourth birthday.

He had gone to sleep just like any other night, but instead of dreaming normally, he appeared in his mindscape. With a visitor.

"Akira?" asked Naruto, fully aware that he could see his true form.

"Yeah. So… care to explain why your soul is seventeen years older?" she asked with an eyebrow raised. "I'm sure this has something to do with the _Sealate Warpein_ am I right?"

"**AND WHO THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU?" **growled Kyuubi, his red eyes narrowed.

"My name is Akira Uzukitsune. I am the partner fox of Uzumaki Kushina," replied Akira as she glared at the great demon, "and I assume you are the Nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi-sama?"

"**Damn straight."** retorted the giant demon, clearly pleased that his subordinate species knew people to be respected when she saw one.

"I thought something like this might have happened when your father told me about an indefinite period of time that the seal went on before activating. I had my suspicions when you started doing things no ordinary child could do... like clinging to walls and ceilings for hours on end... with reasonable chakra control. Your chakra reserves are immense, and I can see in your eyes that you are a lot more that what your parents see. Probably a pretty powerful shinobi in your day I reckon, am I right? Tell me, who was your fox blood partner, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the use of his former surname. "It's Namikaze. And I never had one."

Akira nodded in approval. "Good. Eventually, your mother will want you to bond with one of us... she is already thinking about it, because the little Inuzuka child recieved his dog blood partner awhile ago. If you had already bonded to a fox in your old world, we would have had a problem. Your soul can only bond _once._" intoned the smaller fox. Her words had a weight of foreboding in them. "But it's pointless to mull it over now... I shall keep your secret for you. Too many troublesome questions will rob your poor parents of the peace of mind they sorely need."

"**I vaguely remember saying something similar to my kit here...**" drawled Kyuubi.

* * *

Five-year-old Naruto opened his eyes again and stretched where he lay in the grass. He found it amusing to reminisce about his happy life with his parents. To him, all these changes of being loved and adored unconditionally by so many people was still like a waking dream... at times it seemed all too unreal, though he knew it was perfectly complete. As if to prove his theory, he rolled over in the turf and sunk his hand into the water at the edge of the lake; a small tadpole swimming up and sampling his finger with a little sucker.

Naruto's attention wandered to more recent memories. Like the war with Cloud. Even before the Kyuubi had attacked, Kumogakure and their allies were hell bent on the destruction of Konoha, for some trivial reason. For a long time, skirmishes between Cloud and Fire shinobi had been going on for a long time, but in more recent months, whole armies of clound nins were being sent to the Fire borders. After much reluctance on what was going to happen, Naruto's tousan had no choice but to enter the fighting _himself _when at least seventy Konoha shinobi were lost in a single battle. Angered, the Yondaime Hokage somberly reminded the world of why he was named _Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō_ or _Konoha's Yellow Flash_. After decimating more than half of the cloud, Kumo surrendered, sending their own hero to Konoha to sign peace treaties. But Naruto knew better about this hero and knew full well what the real target of the armstice was aiming for. He had snuck out of the house and kept watch at the Hyuuga compound for a night, when sure enough, the idiot came and tried to kidnap poor Hinata-chan.

As it happened, Narutoonly had to observe, as Hizashi, just as how it had been in the old world, came to his niece's rescue, killing the intruder with a quick _Gentle Fist _technique. Naruto had gone back home, and here he was, lying on the grass in his black and orange kimono, waiting for his dad to call him for the up and coming meeting. Now that he thought back on the whole incident, Naruto had considered intervening, and keeping Hizashi from killing the hero... but that would have risked exposing himself.

"Ready to go, Naru-chan?"

Naruto rolled over and sprang to his feet. Even for all his previous skill and senses, his dad _always _managed to sneak up on him. Grinning warily at his dad, he nodded the affirmative. Minato could only watch in happiness as his son grinned back at him. Naruto took his father's outstretched hand, and they _shunshin_'ed to the ornate meeting room. As always, it was furnished to impress and intimidate. The hokage sitting on a cushion behind a screen, with the council members around him, and his adorable son in his cross-legged lap.

At a silent nod from Minato, the ANBU pulled back the sliding screen door to allow in the Kumo embassy, who were also dressed in the formal kimonos this kind of situation demanded. Naruto watched as all but the leader looked at his dad with poorly concealed fear. The leader, a tall and thin man, however, stared directly at Naruto with a malice trumped only by the Kyuubi himself. Not that this affected Naruto. He cocked his head to the side and sniffed the air, allowing the leader to fully see his whisker marks and scrutinizing gaze. The gesture only seemed to bolster the leader's inspection of the small blonde.

"_I suggest you stop looking at me like that before my tousan here gets fed up with your insolence,_" thought Naruto, regarding the leader with a little more respect than the others because of his gall. This person was not a kage, Kumo didn't have an official one, but Naruto figured this one would be theirs. He had a normal chakra supply, but probably wouldn't last too long against the _Yellow Flash_ if it came to blows.

As the embassy settled themselves, Naruto noticed that the other members were shaking not only in fear, but in anger. The leader stopped staring at Naruto and repositioned his gaze at Minato, who was unflinchingly returning the gesture with an equal aura of his own. After a minute of silence, a cloud subordinate blurted, "This is an OUTRAGE!"

Immediately, the others, save the leader, joined him in berating the Konoha ninja for their insolence. After several more minutes, Naruto felt his father shift in exasperation, waiting for the leader to make the first real political move. Naruto could only admire his father's patience.

"ALL your responsible shinobi should be executed! How _dare _you break our peace treaties!" shouted the apparently second-in-command shinobi. Something broke in the leader's eyes, and for a split second, he broke eye contact with Minato to silence his subordinates with a slight gesture of his hand. In that minor slip, Minato took the initiative.

"Are you instigating another war?" asked a very calm Minato, whose aura grew to be the most menacing. With a start, Naruto could see his father's trademark yellow chakra flit across his skin.

"ARE _YOU_?" demanded the second-in-command, defying the look given too him by the Konoha ANBU. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Kakashi, or 'Wolf' at the moment, casually rest his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"No, we are not."

"Then we demand proper replacement for this heinous deed! If you give us what we want, we will not attack your _pathetic_ village."

Naruto rolled his eyes, but he had to respect the bravery, albeit quite rash, of these cloud shinobi. If he wanted too, Minato could easily kill all these men, but Naruto knew he wouldn't. The thing that everyone in Konoha; everyone who believed in the will of fire knew... was that Minato would only use his technique unless the cloud attacked first, and even then he would try to negotiate peace diplomatically, not on the tip of his kunai. Perhaps the cloud shinobi already knew, or guessed this from Konoha's reputation, but then again they could just be incredibly stupid.

All the fire council members started to laugh.

"Calling our village weak shows me that _you _are weak to underestimate us. We are one the strongest of the five great Shinobi nations. We will, however, seek to resolve this problem peacefully. What are your terms?" intoned Minato, perfectly executing a bored, yet only slightly interested look towards the leader, who _paled _slightly. In a flash, Naruto lost all respect for the man, but didn't blame him. He could feel the edge of his tousan's killer intent directed at the leader, and probably would have done the same thing in his shoes... but still.

"We want one of your weapons," the leader spoke for the first time. "As much as my collegues would let on, we do _not _wish for this to end in conflict. But the situation still stands. Our best shinobi is dead, slaughtered by some of _your _most powerful shinobi. At first we thought that the bodies of his killers would suffice, meaning Hyuuga Hiashi's death, but his potential and power does not equal the one of our lost shinobi. We want the power of another to restore our forces to their former glory."

**"Let's make a bet Naru-kit. I say they want the purple-haired Hyuuga child alive anyway, so they could breed her, isn't that ever-pleasant?" **said the fox in Naruto's head. "**Though I wonder if they perhaps want someone from another clan, like the Uchiha-brat. That weakling leader said they wanted an equal potential, am I right?"**

"_There are plenty of other things that they might want instead, like the death of tousan over here," _Naruto tilted his head up to look into his father's face. "_Of course, the chance of _that _happening is slim to none, the council would declare war. Let's watch these blithering idiots demand something they can't have._"

"To be a Kumo shinobi requires loyalty and discipline, two qualities already displayed by the tool of our choice," the leader continued, seeming to grow in confidence with every word. Naruto felt that perhaps the fellow thought that if he demanded the most outrageous compensation, he would get it without question. Oh how naiive, no _wonder _Kumo wasn't a kage factor.

"_Way to drag it out…"_

"Please stop there. There are several Shinobi of the village more powerful than Hyuuga Hiashi, and none of them will be handed over as compensation. I suggest you rethink your demands before you anger my fellow council into _seriously _declaring war this time. We take great pride in being a great family. No one member of Konoha with the kind of power I assume you think is justified in your 'predicament' will be allowed to leave peacefully."

"_That's my dad!"_

There were nods of agreement amongst the fire members.

"You assume incorrectly, then," smiled a cloud member. "We do not want a _leaf _shinobi, instead, we'd rather the son of a foreign one that does not wear a hiate for any village as of yet."

There were looks of confusion all around.

_"You're probably right," _thought Naruto, thinking about Sasuke, who, if you stretch it _might_ be considered foreign because the Uchiha clan was established with Konoha...

"**No, I'm not, though I'm surprised you don't already see what they're really after."**

"We demand your son, Namikaze Naruto, the container of the Nine-Tails, Hokage-_sama_," the council member sneered.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4: Snapped and Secrets

Something snapped.

Naruto, admittedly, was a little surprised himself, but not unduly so. With a sinking feeling, he realized that this all really did make a lot of sense. He mused that his _father,_ on the other hand, was about to dismiss these trespassers, maybe even scare them a little with a little killing intent. Looking around for the source of the snapping sound, Naruto glanced at his father's clenched fist. It had broken the delicate paintbrush into little fragments of wood and horse hair; staining the pale hand and hardwood floor with droplets of oily ink. Surely the Yondaime had some kind of idea about what would be demanded. But Minato was never a very self-centered person. Naruto guessed that his tousan's reaction was the product of meditating other kekkei genkai candidates rather than his own son. Now, without the Hokage able to mentally prepare himself and reason out the obvious incredulity, Naruto supposed his father growing angrier and angrier as the palpable silence stretched on.

That leader, or rather, the second-in-command speaker, was destined for a short life in Naruto's opinion, but Minato, once again showing ample quantities of forbearance, restrained himself.

_For now_.

A fire council member spoke in a dangerous tone, "This is ridiculous. Your demands restart this war. We declare it against your insolence, and your ignorance of our ability." Cloud ANBU platoons burst through the door, overwhelming the Leaf ANBU and capturing them with ease. The council members sprang to their feet, angrily stooping into their stances as they formed around the civilian representatives.

Startled, Naruto looked up into his father's face. The long blonde bangs trademark of the Namikaze family concealed Minato's eyes, but the killing intent previously directed at the leader now oozed out with rage equal to the demon fox's chakra. Indiscriminantly drowning everyone in the room, including Naruto.

He shuddered under the weight of the power and anguish as it froze him in place. Impossibly, the power increased _again_ clawing at Naruto's insides. If Minato was trying to direct the flow of his anger at all, and Naruto was feeling the _byproduct_ of his anger, he could only imagine the kind of terror the cloud embassy was entreating. Involuntarily, Naruto heaved a huge breath, trying to escape upwards towards the surface, as the evil hatred threatened to consume his very soul. Naruto shuddered again, but this time, tears spilled over his cheeks, perpendicular to the pale triple lines on either side.

"_I'm going to die... I can't fight this... I CAN'T ESCAPE! DAD _STOP_ YOU'RE HURTING ME!"_ Naruto mentally cried out as he slumped against his father's torso, eyes wide, chest gasping for oxygen. Fear. Through his own fear, Naruto smelt the fear around him, assaulting his nostrils as he tried to breathe 'underwater'. Images and sensations of the past flashed before his eyes, making him weak. Sasuke, running his hand through his shoulder. The fox's chakra ripping open his skin. Sakura swatted by Shukaku. Gaara dead. Hinata beaten by Pein as his lay immobile. Countless others unnamed slaughtered before him in the Fourth War. Tsunade _twice_ dying at his feet. Lee broken. His father, falling from a great toad... lifeless.

"_This is a genjutsu!"_ exclaimed Naruto, but to no avail. The images that brought out his failures and shortcomings of the past chipped away... drowning in sorrow...

After a minute, a Konoha council member weakly made gesture with his hand at the cloud shinobi. Minato took this as his cue, and the world exploded.

**

* * *

**

One thing about this meeting would forever burn in Naruto's memory. Supressing the memory was difficult, if impossible.

A fire council member, a woman who must be a mother, picked Naruto up off the cushion and covered his eyes in the split second before the carnage erupted.

But she was too late.

In the slightest sliver of time, Naruto saw his father disappear in a shroud of bright, swirling, yellow light and chakra before it abruptly ended. It appeared and disappeared in a flash. So fast, it was difficult to ascertain that it had happened at all. An unseen force slit the throats of the council men, seemingly all at once, blood spraying in every direction. Thick, splashes of blood stained every formal kimono in the room.

They never saw it coming. Then again, they wouldn't have even if they were _looking._

In the time span of a second, Naruto had seen the power of the _Hiraishin_. It was truly fearsome. Sickness swept through Naruto, and he successfully repressed the urge to retch over. Blinded from the disaster now, Naruto was granted only slight reprieve of what he had seen. Usually, his experiences of the past would shield him from any kind of killing intent. He himself had been through a war, and had a _demon_ living in him for goodness sake. But whatever genjutsu his father had used to intimidate those around him had brought out the horrid things of Naruto's past, turning them against him and multiplying their effects.

"Ironic, isn't it?" said Hikaru to Naruto, who was still covering his eyes, "the _Hiraishin_ they desired was ultimately their downfall." She looked down at the little blonde boy in her lap. "When your father was fighting those ninja in the war before the treaty, he was holding back," she said, "those ninja were so weak, he could've taken out their entire force in ten seconds. They were fools."

Somehow, Naruto felt that Minato would've killed the Cloudies even if they _had_ wanted Hiashi's body.

**

* * *

**

The aftermath of the bloodshed occurred rather quickly. Minato had rushed over and checked to see if Naruto was okay, before asking Hikaru to take home the younger blonde while he alerted the village of the war's resumption. When a silent Naruto and worried Hikaru arrived at the Namikaze clan ground, covered in blood, Kushina freaked. Once they were cleaned up, Hikaru explained what had happened. She told Kushina of the genjutsu and the _Hiraishin_, before departing back to the council office, leaving the small, shivering child in his mother's arms.

The remainder of the war literally lasted a week. Needless to say, cloud surrendered before Minato could get his hands on them. Darn.

**

* * *

**

By late January, things had resumed their normal routine in the Namikaze household. Well, just about as normal as it could be. Although he had seen (and committed) many assassinations before, Naruto had become a little wary of his father. He had to continuously tell himself that it was only a genjutsu... _Only a genjustsu! _His father's technique purposefully took the most painful memories of a person's soul and amplified them. The more atrocities the person had seen, the more of an effect it had. Naruto told himself that his father wouldn't have known the _true_ nature of Naruto's experiences. But even so, it lingered on his conscience like an unwanted itch. No matter how hard he tried to scrub it away, it still held fast.

Minato was always the first up, followed by a disheveled Akira crawling out of his room/nest/den. Then Kushina would come down the stairs and into the kitchen with a half-asleep Naruto on one shoulder.

"Yo, Naruto," said Akira, "are you alive?"

"Barely…" the younger blonde replied, as he slumped his head on the table.

"Hey kiddo, I get out of work early today, so how about you and I do some ninja stuff?" said Minato, innocent to his son's involuntary flinch at his ever-wonderful voice...

"Like what?" Naruto piped up.

"Hmm… how about I show you the basics? Like… throwing shurikken and kunai?"

"Naw, Kakashi-nii already showed me how to do that!" exclaimed the little blonde, a little accusatorily.

"Oh really? Then how about you show me later?"

"Uhh…okay."

"Oh no he isn't," said Kushina, as she pulled a cereal box out of a cabinet. "He needs to go with Akira and I today."

"For what?" Minato demanded, disappointed.

"We have an important visit to the Hyuuga residence. I promised Hinata-chan's mother I'd come over with Naruto. Apparently, little Hinata is still rather upset about… what happened," said Kushina, sadly.

Naruto thought of the cloud attempt again... but thinking about cloud members reminded him of their gory remains littered about the meeting room. He shuddered and tried to think happy thoughts instead.

Minato frowned. Somehow, he felt a little left out. Sure, he and Naruto interacted, but being Hokage of Konohagakure meant that duty came first. Now that he thought about it, Kushina had spent triple the amount that he had with Naruto. They very rarely interacted at all. Sure, Minato would send over a _bunshin_ to the house to get things and say hello to his favorite (and only) son, but most of the time he was just so wrapped up in the evils of paperwork and _international affairs. _What was more, even Kushina wasn't around all the time to keep the small one occupied. She herself was a well-rounded jounin and had to do missions of her own, no matter how many times Minato put off giving her the A-rank duties she and Akira were entitled too... Plus, after the whole incident with the cloud, Naruto seemed a little more reclusive towards him. When Minato came home, Naruto wouldn't run and give him a hug at the front door like he normally did, just smiled at him or mumbled some greeting or other, then went back to whatever he was getting into.

"_Was it because of the cloud meeting?"_ Minato wondered, as Naruto slid off his chair and ran up the stairs to 'get 'Nata-chan a flower from mommy's vase'. _"Is he afraid of me now?"_

Surely not. Minato shook off an icy chill. Naruto was just an innocent little kid, right? And hadn't Hikaru covered his eyes?

He shuddered.

He did _not_ want to deal with a four year old who had seen _that_ technique. Perhaps he would talk to Naruto later. _If_ and _when_ he found the time.

**

* * *

**

Naruto, Kushina, and Akira left after Minato had rushed out of the house with a _shunshin_, mumbling about missing a mission briefing, and were presently walking down the flat, winding road that lead to the Hyuuga estate and mansion. It was snowing again... Naruto wearing a heavy orange snowcoat. The little blonde pushed his nose skyward and gazed at the thick, snow-laden clouds above... _clouds..._

_"BRR!" _thought Naruto, as he pulled up his orange hood, warming his ears in the soft white fur. "_It's cold today... but time to keep up the act for Hinata. Poor thing. I feel so protective of them all, knowing who they will (or I supposed could) become in the future. I just wish the whole ninja system wasn't necessary. That way... jutsu like... _that..._ wouldn't be necessary. But the _Rasengan _looks really cool when I use it..._"

Naruto blushed at his own childish thoughts. Well, he _was_ technically a child again _anyway_. Not that it was any excuse...

"Naruto, when we get there, I want you to just act normally around Hina-chan. She's very flustered and scared with the whole thing going on, so be happy around her and encourage her to play games, okay? I'm pretty sure I didn't have to tell you that, but just so you remember," Kushina said to her son as he skipped to keep pace with the large fox and the red headed adult.

"Okay! 'Nata-chan is one of my best friends! I won't let her down!" Naruto replied, flashing his signature grin that looked ever-so reminiscent of his father's.

"And his little side-bangs really do make him a Minato reincarnation, minus the whiskers," Akira said under her breath to Kushina as Naruto bounded ahead at the sight of the looming Hyuuga estate. "Have you noticed? The little one's more serious about things. His eyes betray him. You think he's been scared by that jutsu?"

"I don't know, Akira, I can only trust that Hikaru-san was able to close his eyes."

Akira knew, though, that Naruto would have seen it. She knew who Naruto really was, but even so... from what he understood about Naruto's previous life, nothing should have scared him like that. Maybe something was wrong.

Little Naruto bounced on top of a stone lion's head by the entrance, and rung the little oriental bell that would alert the Hyuuga ANBU to their presence.

"O-ohayo, Narut-to-kun," squeaked little Hinata as the trio entered the Main House after being given a twice-over by the ANBU.

She was wearing a little purple house yukata with a pink obi decorated with delicately embroidered swirls. Naruto thought that she looked super cute, and when he voiced this opinion aloud, Hinata's previously nervous and jumpy demeanor broke in giggles before she informed him that he looked cool. Naruto looked at himself. He had unzipped his thick jacket (it was much warmer on the inside of the compound) to expose his plain white shirt, with a big red swirl in the center. In addition he was wearing a smaller version of the standard-issue black ninja sweatpants. All in all he thought he looked pretty informal... maybe she had just said it to match his own compliment to her attire.

"Naruto-kun! Look, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun came to play with us!"

"Hn, hello 'Ruto," muttered Sasuke, looking bored as ever. And he probably _was_, having to entertain Hinata, who wasn't so sociable with the Uchiha. Not that it was a problem. The two got along incredibly well, generally content with the other's quiet, undisturbed nature. But usually, Sasuke wouldn't look so irritated...

Naruto heard footsteps from behind Hinata and before he could look around her, a pink blur glomped him.

"_Bingo. Poor Sasuke had to deal with both Hinata _AND _Sakura!_" thought Naruto, mentally busting a gut with how this would have _really _happened back in the old world.

"Ohayo, 'Akura-chan!" exclaimed Naruto after he prized the exuberant rosette off of him.

Sakura was wearing a pink little yukata with an emerald obi, and her short, pink hair was pulled into a high ponytail, tied with a long, green ribbon, while Sasuke was wearing his customary Uchiha-outfit, but more suited to the cold weather: long sleeves.

Akira and Kushina laughed as they went off towards the east wing of the house where they could find the rest of the parents, who were undoubtedly as far away from this part of the wing as would allow. (Hyuugas are more suited to meditative silence... and the arrival of Naruto _AND_ Sakura was surely not unnoticed to the all seeing eyes of the Hyuuga.)

"You four play nice, and don't let Naruto do anything stupid, Sasuke-kun," Kushina called, chuckling when she heard her son huff indignantly.

The four younglings made their way outside to go play ninja, where Sasuke showed off his aiming skills by chucking some wooden shuriken his brother had made for him at a training dummy.

"W-Wow, Sasuk-ke-kun…" squeaked Hinata, impressed.

"Bach! You just got lucky!" blurted Naruto, who crossed his arms in mock idignance.

"_Yawn... I wish this false pretense wasn't so strict... I could thrash this little Uchiha in my sleep!_"

"Go Sasuke-kun! You're awesome!" hurrahed Sakura, leaping into the air with admiration.

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and smirked at the ground. He felt great that his three friends thought all the moves Itachi taught him were pretty cool, even Naruto was pressed to grudgingly admit it was great, albeit his methods of congratulations were more roundabout. He couldn't wait to show them what he could do with practice kunai if they thought that was sweet...

Naruto flopped down on the ground next to Sakura, who was lying on her stomach watching Sasuke scratch some splinters out of his precious shurikken.

As the other three talked, Naruto closed his eyes to think.

"_Time for some planning. I'm going to have to wait about Neji. He already has the curse-seal from a few days ago... and that wasn't preventable. I'll have to become hokage to change anything like that. And the clan leader at the time would have to decide most of the traditions for that. It _is _clan buisness. But what else can I do right now?" _he wondered.

Most of his plans would have to wait until he was six to begin at the academy, and that would allow him to begin using Jutsu without being suspected, making his job ultimately a lot easier. Being in the academy under the tutelage of other ninja made it easier to keep things in check. And being in the academy also warranted a greater freedom for the students, who didn't have to go around everywhere with a chaperone... being older as they were, and able to reasonably defend themselves. With that ease of movement, Naruto would be able to flit about Konoha as he pleased and no one would be the wiser. This was critical in eavesdropping and making sure things like the slaughter of the Uchiha clan wouldn't happen. Once the time came around, Naruto mused, he would have to have a permanent _bunshin_ stationed at the Uchiha compound to keep vigil. Keeping Itachi from destroying the Uchiha clan was his first priority. Making Sasuke's life better in this world depended on it, but even then, preventing Itachi from going about his buisness had some drawbacks.

In the old world, while Naruto was pilfering through some documents in the Hokage tower, he found some very interesting things hidden away as classified not-to-be-opened-on-pain-of-death kind of records. (Not that it mattered, Naruto was a Jinchuuriki and wouldn't have been executed for treason) Naruto _knew _the Uchiha clan was, _according to Danzou_, whose word he didn't really trust anyway, plotting an overthrow of Konoha via their civilian police force. Apparently, the Uchiha clan had taken a major role in the foundation of Konoha, and even though Madara had betrayed the Senjuu clan and his own best friend, the Uchiha were still very proud people about things like power.

But something about that whole... 'overthrow Konoha' buisness didn't sit well with Naruto. In the old world, Danzou had advised the hokage, and had Itachi, who was their only loyal Uchiha ninja, to kill his whole clan save Sasuke. But something about that didn't sit correctly. Sasuke and Itachi's parents, Fugaku and Mikoto, were exceedingly good friends with both Kushina and Minato. And Fugaku was the clan head. BUT Uchihas had a thing for killing their best friends to gain power. And _besides _Danzou only had limited, if close to NO influence with his tousan, who ran the village. As a last resort, Naruto decided, he would interfere and make sure neither side would so much as disturb the peace. Regardless of who the information came from, information was still information. Naruto knew that he couldn't ignore any kind of accusation, even if it was one he himself didn't like. He would stay wary of both sides; both Danzou AND the Uchiha. This was all really a very delicate situation.

But Naruto had forgotten something.

The only way to unseat the hokage would be to kill him. But Minato was close to _invincible_ with his _Hiraishin_ and the only way to seriously blackmail him into submission would be through Naruto. And even then that would also be close to impossible, because Naruto himself had technically already surpassed the Yondaime anyway.

"_If Danzou tries to convince and comes up with evidence to make Minato go with the original plan the third had gone with, I doubt Minato will listen, and would investigate himself before ordering such a thing. The Sandaime... bless his retired old soul, had always been more influenced by his council, but not so with tousan,_" thought Naruto. "_I'll still keep watch, but if either party tries something, they will have to go through both Dad and I! But speaking of Itachi, what of the Akatsuki in general?_"

The weasel must have been contacted by the organization prior to his staged defection, because, knowing Itachi, when he left Konoha he probably wanted a ready, backdoor reason to set up any of the 'fake' retrevial missions after him with plausible information. Itachi had already become quite powerful, having activated the Sharingan and blowing the curve on the academy graduation exams. It was really only a matter of time before he would be contacted by the organization that would mutilate and threaten to destroy every other Jinchuuriki's life.

_Jinchuuriki._

Naruto absolutely hated that word. It labeled all bijuu containers as the demons themselves. Luckily, in this world, Naruto was only hated by a select group of villagers in Konoha, unlike Gaara, who was…

"_I forgot Gaara!"_ Naruto mentally screamed, berating himself for his negligence.

How was he going to save him? They were all four or five right now, so that meant that the Ichibi Jinchuuriki was still being pampered and spoiled by his Kazekage father.

"_Not for long…"_ Naruto thought, bitterly. _"If only Gaara went to meetings like I do, then we could meet, and maybe I could change everything."_

Naruto briefly contemplated sneaking out to infiltrate Suna, but that wouldn't do any good. Suna was farther away than Kumo, nearly two days with Naruto's speed on a nonstop journey, and what would he do when he got there? It wasn't like he could steal a scroll that could change anything. He would need a long time to foster a friendship with Gaara to make any impact at all on his life.

_"Maybe I could touch on the subject of Jinchuuriki with dad, and see if it rings a nerve... it probably will. Then if I can trick him into telling me about the Kyuubi, I can demand to want to meet other Jinchuuriki... and the closest one would be Nibi in cloud... but after that... errr... fiasco, I doubt he would take me there... so then that would leave SUNA! Or that Fire Temple Jinchuuriki... but I'm not sure. Maybe I'll go about it: "Are there other Jinchuuriki from different countries" sort of thing..."_

Putting aside Gaara's redemption for now, Naruto focused on Konoha's up-and-coming young ninja in training.

Sakura didn't really fangirl Sasuke all the time, but instead seemed eager to begin at the academy, which Naruto found to be a good sign. The future world would seriously need Haruno Sakura to be a medic specialist. Somehow, Naruto needed to figure out how to get Tsunade to come back to the village to train her.

Naruto found that Hinata seemed very determined to join the academy as well, another very good sign, but he wasn't sure if it was because of the pressure of being the Byakugan heiress or not.

In their later years in the old world, Hinata had become an excellent clan head and even went around seriously changing the Main/Cadet Branch house ways (which Naruto was banking on for doing the same in this world). Naruto had admired her for finally getting rid of the impeding stutter and abolishing the placing of the caged-bird seal on Branch house members simply because they were born later. She had also gained respect in her own house by perfecting a technique that countered the 64-Trigrams attack... but this was all the maximum of her potential...

"_Baby steps, Naruto. Baby steps and I mean that LITERALLY. We're what FOUR?!? Except me... I'm technically... WOAH! Twenty-one! I'm mature enough to drink in civilian territories! YAAAY!" _Naruto sarcastically whooped to himself. Most villages let Ninja drink based on rank... because that would mean alchohol was more necessary to wash away the troubles of the kinds of missions they were expected to do. Chuunin was generally a requirement. And a simple flash of an ID card got you into most bars if you wanted.

As for Sasuke, Naruto expected great things, especially if his father and mother were going to be alive to train him, and his brother to motivate him.

Naruto laughed inwardly at himself for the brilliant idea that had just popped into his brain.

Sasuke had certainly shown an interest in snakes. Even now, the four-year-old was clutching a purple and blue stuffed baby cobra plushie with the Uchiha symbol on its hood. Then there was that one mission in the old world where Team 7 had to eradicate a snake infestation in someone's home. Sasuke, not being one to slack on a mission, _reluctantly_ "took care of" the problem. Afterward, Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura could've sworn they saw his abnormally stuffed bag wriggle slightly. If Sasuke had an affinity with snakes, then why not get Mitarashi Anko to train him?

That is, if she came back.

Orochimaru had left long before Naruto was born with a young Anko to wherever the hell the snake-bastard killed time. If he could remember correctly, she was only a few years younger than Kakashi, who was seventeen now.

Speaking of Kakashi, he had been picked up with ANBU when Naruto was two, and frequently came around to see his old sensei with his teammate, Yamato. Naruto briefly remembered having the luck of witnessing Yamato's reaction to Kakashi's new hair doo. It entailed a lot of guffaws, angry masked people, and a chase of a certain blonde-haired baby.

Naruto shuddered; Kakashi was scary when he was angry. Now he knew where Yamato had learned that face trick.

Naruto sighed. With all of that waiting to do before attending the academy he felt a little frustrated. He was itching to ditch the guise and show the world his true self, it would certainly be easier to train (half his strength was gone with this puny child body! This time around, Naruto promised himself, he would be top of the class in _everything_. Instead of struggling and slogging through his academy days like the slacker he used to be. He had sworn to himself that he would pay rapt attention to Iruka-sensei's lectures and finally learn how to do that god damn _bunshin. _It wasn't like he needed it, what with his more superior _Kage Bunshin_ in his main arsenal, but he had always wanted to master that simple little technique, instead of finding a shortcut.

Hah. Jutsu. It used to be all Naruto could think about. Mastering, creating, using, training with, and pranking with _Jutsu_. Sure, he still wanted to learn more, but the first source anyone would expect him to get any kind of new knowledge would be his father.

And his father meant the _Hiraishin_.

He really wasn't sure if he wanted to learn it. It was just plain scary. After seeing his father use it; seeing the menacing, godlike aura around the _Yellow Flash_, was like watching the scariest movie ever, only ten times worse and feeling like you were next. No screen that divided reality from the imagination of a director. Minato's face had been murderous. Nothing would ever stand in the Yondaime's way. Not even Naruto. That was probably why he didn't want to learn it. It just seemed so inhuman; alien.

He knew that because it was a Kekkei Genkai, he would eventually have to, but he hadn't had access to it in the old world, so why was this world any different?

Oh yeah, Minato was his father.

And his father meant the _Hiraishin_. Duh.

"_I suppose ignorance is truly bliss,_" thought Naruto. It didn't really matter anyway, that time was a long, long ways off. And kekkei genkai didn't always manifest themselves without question in the next generation. Plenty clan offspring didn't inherit their traits, especially when two clans of different kekkei genkai tried to breed themselves.

"NARUTO!"

His eyes snapped open at Sakura's berating screech, and he sat up just as fast.

"What? What happened?"

"You didn't answer Hina-chan, stupid. We thought you died."

"I a-asked whether or n-not you were looking f-forward t-to going to th-the acad-demy," Hinata repeated softly with a coy smile.

"Oh yeah! I can't wait! I'm gonna show up my dad and become the next Hokage! Dattebayo!"

"You want to become Hokage?" Sakura asked, intrigued. "But isn't your dad the strongest ninja alive?"

"You bet he is, but I'm going to surpass him! Everyone expects me to be just as good as him because I'm his son, but when I get _better _than him, I'll show everyone! Believe it!" said Naruto, smiling. Oh how much these little children didn't know about him... poor little things wouldn't know what hit them! Let alone all the

Sakura and Hinata smiled, while Sasuke just looked at him like he was crazy.

"You're just talk, you probably couldn't be Hokage. There are only four Hokage, what makes you think you'll be the next?" Sasuke said confidently.

Naruto's smirk widened. "Hey Sasuke, wanna keep a secret?"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow, imitating his brother.

Naruto, still grinning picked up four of Sasuke's wooden shurikken and methodically, in one flick of an arm, shot them at the practice dummy with three targets on it. All four of the projectiles deftly sunk dead center, splitting the soft straw and breaching the cover cloth from a quadruple impact.

Sasuke's jaw dropped to the floor, as did Sakura's and Hinata's.

"H-how'd you d-do that?" squeaked Hinata, the first of the fledglings to recover.

"You better not have broken my brother's shurikken! I'll beat you to a pulp NARUTO!" asserted Sasuke as he hobbled over to the dummy to inspect the damage.

Naruto grinned again and spent the rest of the day showing Sasuke, Hinata, and Sakura how to aim and accurately throw shurikken, just like 'Kashi-nii had 'showed him'.

**

* * *

**

Minato was walking along the Namikaze path-road, on his way back from the daily grind at the office. True to his earlier word, he had come home much earlier. Usually he arrived at the house around 9:00-9:30ish. Today he was home at 3:00. It _was _Sunday after all. This kind of break in monotonous paperwork usually had Minato jumping for joy and sprinting to the nearest ramen stand, but today he felt odd.

There really wasn't a word to describe how he felt, but it was somewhere between worry, nerves, and anxiety. Why?

The _Hiraishin_.

It was truly a fearsome jutsu that he had designed. It gave the user the ability to transport anywhere at extremely high velocity wherever a seal marker was placed. To ensure that the jutsu couldn't be copied by the Uchiha or Kakashi (for it would be a formidable weapon in the hands of those who might use it unwisely), Minato practiced and molded the technique to the point where the bi-product yellow chakra genetically altered his DNA. Fitting really; the Namikaze were acclaimed for their sealing abilities. If the _Shikki Fuujin _and _Sealate Warpein _weren't already a testament to it. Now the only two people in the world who could ever hope to use the _Hiraishin: Flying Thunder God Technique_ included himself, and Naruto.

Minato looked at the ground and sighed, stopping his pace to dig the tip of his sandal into the compact earth, cold to the touch of his toes in the abysmal January chill. _"Maybe I shouldn't have used the Hiraishin in the meeting… I really over did it… I couldn't help myself, but kunai would've proved just as effective… Now my only son thinks I'm a demon. Ironic really, considering he harbors one…"_

Minato wanted to rip out his hair and destroy a forest in frustration and aguish. Surely he was the worst father in the world? Naruto wasn't privvy to his time any more than a genin would be, though surely it was more than normal in reality. His choice of career would be one excuse... but his shortcomings as a parent went beyond simple negligence. From the very moment of Naruto's birth- the beginning of his _existence _-he had condemned his pride and joy to two very horrible and powerful weapons he would have to face as an adult in certainty: The _Hiraishin_ and the Kyuubi no Yoko. The _Hiraishin_ was bad enough... but the double edged sword of being a jinchuuriki made the situation all the more difficult to digest. Minato was only comforted in the assurance that his son's ill-fated kekkei genkai would probably save his life more than a few times in his future, as it had with Minato's past.

A bird fluttered past overhead, and Minato halted again to watch its progress across the ever-darkening, gray sky. It was so lucky and so free to do what it would, not having a care in the world…

He sighed again as he reached his front door. Opening it with his seal key, he stepped over the threshold, took his shoes, overcoat, and vest off; placing them on the coat rack.

Hearing the rapid patter of footsteps, he looked around to see his son sprint out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Whatcha' doing?" Minato asked casually. His little son had a habit of filching things while his parents were not paying attention, and sure enough, Naruto's grubby little plams fisted a kunai... probably stolen from a neglected weapons pouch. Minato surmised, as he _shunshin_'d in front of his son to block his progress, that several of his missing exploding tags had dissappeared in this way as well...

Naruto froze with a strange look in his eyes.

Fear.

So it was true, Naruto was afraid of him, if only a little. Because of the _Hiraishin_? Most likely.

Inwardly, the Yellow Flash sighed to himself again for the umpteenth time today, solemnly deciding that jutsu had occupied quite enough of his mind, thankyou verymuch. Minato's face softened before saying, "Naruto, let me show you something."

Naruto didn't say anything, but followed his father along the corridor, brushing past a large, potted palm tree from the coastal regions Kushina used to frequent. Minato stopped at a door Naruto had never been inside, but continuously wondered at because of the visibly complex seals lining it. Minato bit his thumb and swiped it along the crown molding at the top of the door, making it jump and slide open instantaneously.

They walked inside, and Naruto was presented with what looked like a mini storage room, with lots of dusty boxes and important-looking crates. There was a scroll rack, books full of information and such about different countries, ninja history, maps, charts, economic status reports, pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about… anything... printed and then left here. All copies not in the larger library of the house. Regardless, a few racks looked more recently disturbed, like they had been purused often enough to keep them clear of most of the dust and cob-webbing.

Still not speaking, Naruto looked up at his father, who was rummaging around on a shelf labeled simply enough, "Stuff". And, searching around for what he wanted, Minato looked at his son and smiled, saying, "The Namikaze clan was founded a few centuries after the time of the Uchiha clan, but we are most noted for perfecting sealing and inventing the _Shunshin_," Minato said to Naruto, still pushing scrolls aside, "more recently, on the other hand, we, and the rest of Konoha have become known around the globe for something else. Do you know what that is?"

Naruto shuffled on his feet before whispering something, inaudible to Minato. Realizing his tousan hadn't heard him, he whispered, a little louder, "Your _Flying Thunder God Technique_?"

"Nope," Minato said, finally extracting a scroll from the mass of papers, painfully noticing, that his son was uncomfortable with the word 'Hiraishin'.

Naruto, confused, met his father's identical blue gaze and asked, "Then what?"

"The Namikaze clan _now _has the _Hiraishin_ as a Kekkei Genkai, but most people don't know that. I'm just the first generation anyway," said Minato, sitting cross-legged on the floor and opening the scroll for Naruto to see. "We are famous for protecting our _precious people_. Konohagakure's generations all possess something we call the _Will of Fire_. Meaning we will do anything to protect our country and ensure the safety of all our comrades, even if it means sacrificing our own lives."

Naruto looked at the scroll, which seemed to be a list of around twenty names, all with the surname Namikaze written in blocky, red and green kanji.

"These are our predecessors. They all had varied abilities that set them apart from the rest, but they were united in one, unanimous goal and belief: the Will of Fire."

Minato placed his fingers on a few names that were written in red ink. So few had the Namikazes been... the last remaining distant relative had been killed in the Kyuubi attack, and the only blood-Namikaze left were both gazing at the short list. The clan itself hadn't been much of a _clan. _No prestige, no clan compound in the appropriate section of Konoha to claim. Though it had been honored, it was never on the scale of interwoven distant relations like the Uchiha, Hyuuga, Aburame, Nara, or even Inuzuka. The last time more than four or five were alive at the same time was hundreds of years ago.

"These are your ancestors that gave their lives to allow the rest of us to lead, better, and ultimately more peaceful lives," Minato said, once again meeting his son's meridian blue orbs. "And one day, my name will be on there, and, eventually, so will yours."

"You know I saw it," Naruto said, his eyes stinging and stomach twisting uncharacteristically. He would _not_ cry in front of the Hokage, dad or not.

Minato's face fell slightly, seeing his son's distraught emotions. "And… what did you think of it?" Minato said, softly.

"I-It's…" Naruto shuddered, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. All at once, Naruto saw again the crumpled bodies it had slain. The anguish of the moment, genjutsu-induced though it might have been, racked his insides again. His four-year-old self was demanding he bawl his eyes out for hours and then sleep off the unhappy thoughts, but the twenty-one year old side of him was able to squish the emotion back for his younger self. Again he reexamined how it wasn't _all _that bad. It was used for greater intentions wasn't it? It WOULD be used to protect Konoha! And everyone who lived there! But even still... the anger and malice... the unbroken cycle of hate it caused...

Was the price of safety by violence truly a just bargain?

Sigh-sobbing to himself, Naruto tried to again banish the philosophy and reality of everything weighing down on him to the recesses of his mind. Questioning the existence of shinobi now, while he couldn't physically _do _anything about it was infuriating, but pointless at the time being.

A lone tear escaped, running down across all three whisker marks, painfully reminding Minato of what he had sealed inside Naruto. He reached over and hugged his son, who hugged back silently, clutching his father's dark blue ninja-issue turtle neck like a lifeline.

Minato pulled Naruto onto his lap, still embracing, and whispered, "I will only ever use it to protect my precious people. I will never, _ever_ let anything happen to you, or kaasan, it's a promise of a lifetime."

And those words calmed Naruto's plaguing fear in an instant. How could something so good a person as Minato ever truly mean to hate and destroy? The smallest part of his seventeen/twenty-one-year-old conscious vehemently screeched in protest, but quieted as the rest of him felt that this moment was a _lifetime_ overdue.


	5. Chapter 5: Demons and Accusations

_**Two years pass.**_

The soil was moist today. The May spring rain had doused the village over the last fortnight, and the weather conditions weren't exactly the best as of now either. Dull overcast without a beam of sun in sight pretty much summed up the sky, with a looming thunderhead making its way a few miles east. These kinds of days were Kushina's favorite. Back in the now destroyed, Uzu no Kuni, a resident saw a non-rainy day about once every decade. Shinobi learned to deal with, and train in, the rain. They got thunder about once a week, and a really _nasty_ thrasher every two months or so. The weather conditions seemed to have influenced the villagers back then, because all the Shinobi turned out to have a Water, Wind, or Lightning affinity.

Kushina sighed, mentally willing the thunderhead to start its booming.

Like most of her old family, she loved the clap and sizzle of thunder striking around, obliterating all it touched. There even used to be this old coming of age ritual where you would stand, waist-deep in Kosui Shilotsuki lake with nothing on but swimming trunks and a six-foot metal pole, while molding your chakra. When the flash of light hit, you would rapidly manipulate the element back up the pole and into the sky. While amazing to watch as a spectator, it was pretty dangerous and difficult to achieve, especially if you weren't of the lightning element.

Kushina cackled to herself. Being a wind-affinity, she had had one HELL of a time when it was her turn. The Jitenkage had said that she had put off quite a firework display.

"Kushina-taichou," intoned Akira, whose loping gait padded into her study, carrying and insanely large, rolled up scroll on her back, "mission success in all regards."

Kushina reluctantly pulled her eyes away from the window to address the vixen, thinking of how much she missed the old village and its inhabitants, "Was he royally pissed at all?"

Akira tugged at the strings securing the scroll with her muzzle, pulled it off and unrolled it, before speaking. "As usual! That dude absolutely _loathes_ when I need his stuff, especially when it's this important. Stupid librarians and their 'collections'."

The red-head got up from her swivel chair and walked over to the fox, who was peering at the small, wispy kanji scribbled down the length of cracked and yellow parchment. Nostalgia crept into Kushina's emotions. How long ago had she seen this parchment? She remembered looking at the ancient, layered paper and wondering why something so inelegant was so important. It was quite ugly. Brown, with no effacing design or pattern... or any decoration really. Just a simple, dusty cylinder of wood to encase it from the elements, and nasty, stained, yellow paper. It's true nature was only revealed to her in later years... and then she had understood. But now it looked even older then her last encounter.

"Do you remember how to do this?" inquired Akira, scowling at the ancient ink with distaste.

"No, of course not. I was five years old, how was I supposed to remember it?" Kushina crossed her arms impatiently. "How long would it take us to work it out do you figure?"

The fox sighed, releasing a great breath through her sharp teeth. "Who knows? The crumblies who wrote this wanted to make it as hard as possible I'm sure. Probably, for me, about a month. This is the first time you or I have done this on our own. Will we make it in time?"

"Yeah, academy starts in two months so that leaves a few weeks of adjustment and acclamation once we get back home."

Kushina thought fondly of her son for a moment. According to her beloved husband, their small little kiddo had been hoarding a wide and varied assortment of weaponry under his nightstand. Her missing shurikken, kunai, exploding tags, smoke bombs, and even an old, rusty _katana_ had made its way into his clutches, despite their scolding him for getting into things that weren't his. Finally, they had resorted to stashing all weapons not immediately on an adult person under a Minato-Kushina only blood seal. BUT EVEN THEN! Naruto pilfered and procured his little weapons... probably stealing them wherever he went.

"You're assuming it'll take a few _weeks_?" exclaimed Akira, startling Kushina away from her thoughts.

"Oh no, Minato wanted him for a few. You know, Namikaze stuff. I'm not allowed to know the specifics... pity it's not necessary to keep secret what we're doing. I'd _love_ to tease him for a bit of info. Wouldn't that just be ever-so fun!?"

"Feh. You know as well as I that Naruto's wary, if not afraid, of his _Hiraishin_. What the hell are they going to do? Naruto's way to young for anything clan related. If not that… Oh... Don't tell me Minato wants him to learn sealing stuff! Isn't he a little too young for that? He's _six_."

"I don't think he'll be teaching him that jutsu. From what he's told me, the Hiraishin _Kekkei Genkai_ won't show up until Minato messes with something on the Kyuubi no Yoko's seal, and I'm pretty sure that's not what they'll be focusing on. As for learning fuuinjutsu, why not? He's got the basics of ninjutsu and taijutsu. It sounds just fine to me. And besides, _Minato_ will be teaching him. He's even taking work off for it. He _never_ takes work off."

Akira made a noncommittal noise and continued squinting at the scroll.

**

* * *

**

"Thirty-four… thirty-three… thirty-two…"

A little blonde blur silently flew past, seeking solstice in the coat closet, before deciding it was too obvious and dashing out again.

"Twenty-one… twenty… nineteen…"

Scrutinizing any and all possible hiding places that would fool a grown ninja, he finally decided that the corner on the underside of the stairs would serve its purpose. He heard one of the player's clumsy attempt to conceal him or herself in the coat closet Naruto had previously been occupying. Dashing up and clinging to the underside of the stairwell with chakra, the little blonde wedged himself between the wall and top step, completely out of sight behind a quilt his mother had draped over the banister to dry.

"Three… two… one… ready or not, HERE I COME!"

Naruto heard the muffled footsteps on the down-stair's rug, signaling the beginning of Minato's search. Sasuke was hidden under the armoire upstairs, Neji was behind the storage box in the kitchen pantry, Hinata was crouching behind the fake tree pot, Shikamaru under a bed upstairs, Sakura was…

Naruto cocked his head and listened. Where was she?

"Ah-HA! Someone's behind the sideboard!" exclaimed Minato.

Little Sakura bolted out from behind said piece of furniture and dashed for the base, which was the shoe rack Minato had counted by. As she sprinted as fast as her stubby little legs could carry her, Minato feigned chase, and, in the confusion, Hinata and Neji left their hiding spots, as did Shikamaru. Upstairs, Naruto heard Sasuke slide out from under the armoire and dash down the stairs.

Since everyone else was making a break for it, Naruto speedily crept down the underside of the stairwell and off towards the base.

Naruto shrieked in excitement when someone hoisted him up into the air and yelled, "YOU'RE IT!"

Minato put him back down and turned on the spot, quickly running to intercept Sasuke, who was at the base of the staircase now. It seemed that Neji had also been tagged. Sasuke evaded Minato and scurried beneath his legs, barely making it to the shoe rack in time. At last the six little kids flopped on the ground, panting.

"I win!" grinned Minato, who did a funny little dance, "Neji-kun and 'Ruto are IT!"

Neji scowled and crossed his arms, glaring at Naruto like it was his fault. Naruto pulled his goofy grin and stuck out his tongue. The two boys went off to count, but Kushina came in to inform both Hyuugas that their parents had called for them to come home. After a hasty farewell and promise to play ninja tomorrow, Neji and Hinata left, leaving Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Shikamaru.

"Now what do we do?" said Sakura, who stuck her lip out and crossed her arms. "Half our players are gone!" she cried in mock hurt.

Shikamaru exhaled and said, "I'm bored, I think I'll go home too. My mom said be home by…" Shikamaru scrunched his face, trying to remember. "Feh. I can't 'member, I'll just go home now."

After Shikamaru left, the trio played a few games of "Rolly Ninja" before Sasuke's and Sakura's parents came to take their respective child home.

Naruto sighed and smiled to himself. It was so easy for Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Neji and Hinata to be friends. They were too young and too innocent. In a few months, when they started their first year at the academy, the fun and games would end and learning how to kill mercilessly would dominate the rest of their lives. He grimaced. Neji's personality from the old world had already begun to show, due in part because, Naruto guessed, he had nearly finished his first year at the academy. Naruto hadn't known any of The Rookie Nine before they had entered the academy, but if Neji's change was any indication, that would mean that all of them would start… changing.

"Naru-chan! Come for food!" his mother called from the kitchen. "MINATO!! DINNER!!"

Silence.

"Naruto, go get your father, please."

Naruto rolled his eyes and ran up the stairs. At the top, he looked around for the taller blonde. Seeing no one, he dashed down the left corridor towards the office.

"TOUSAN!" Naruto bellowed.

"I'm coming! I'm com- ACK!" There was a crash and a colorful string of swear words before his father finally burst out of the storage closet, covered in dust and holding a broken, expensive looking lamp that had evidently just crashed to the floor.

Looking at his son with horror etched on his face Minato suddenly realized that he had just said Numbers 4, 27, 3, and 6 of words on Kushina's 'Say in Front of My Son and I'll Kill You' list.

"You didn't hear anything alright?" Minato breathed, imagining horrible images of what would happen to him if Naruto repeated any of 'The Words'. The all-powerful wrath of the Kyuubi was _nothing_ to the wrath of his wife should Minato prove disobedient to her wishes.

To Minato's terror, however, Naruto grinned mischievously and whispered, "And what do I get out of it?"

The temperature in the current vicinity dropped by at least fifty degrees. The storm that Kushina had been praying would break over Konoha decided, at that moment, to streak a bolt of light right by the window where Naruto was standing, illuminating his son's face evilly.

"I won't tell your mother that you hid her special red kunai in the fern again yesterday."

"Already got in trouble."

"Umm… Ichiraku's? It's been a few weeks."

Seemingly satisfied with the bribe, Naruto ran back down the stairs, grinning like an idiot and resisting the urge to shout and whoop. Who ever could resist _ramen_ when it was dangled in front of his nose?

"_Geez, I haven't changed one bit from that annoying child of the past have I?_" Naruto chuckled to himself. Everything was wonderful. He was on much better terms with his dad, who dropped by more often to say hello and play with his son. It was just his luck that his dad would show up on the day most of his friends were over. It had rarely ever happened in the past few years, but when the lot of them got together the chaos was almost inevitable. Usually, they were relegated outside or to some park or other to terrorize, but Minato promised to Kushina she would keep thme occupied with a game of hide-and-seek, and for a village hokage, he had done surprisingly well. Though Fugaku and Hiashi gave Minato an incredulous look when they were informed by their children of whom they had played a simple game of hide-and-seek with.

"_Yes indeed... life is good, wouldn't you say so Kyuub's?_" Naruto said to himself, knowing the fox wouldn't care about his mortal musings anyway.

**

* * *

**

"Naruto, there is something your mother and I would like to discuss with you," said Minato to Naruto, who had just finished his rice. Apparently, both of his parents were horrid cooks, and could only succeed in making sushi and rice, which was fine with Naruto, though he was somewhat more adept than his parents were at feeding themselves. He looked up, curious as to what his parents wanted. They never used his actual first name unless they were serious, otherwise it was 'Naru-chan' or 'Ruto'. Minato looked a little strained, possibly a little worried, while Kushina looked excited. His kaasan obviously needed to blurt something out. Predictably, she started speaking before Minato.

"Well, you'll start at the academy in two months right?"

Naruto nodded viciously.

"_AND ITS ABOUT DAMN TIME TOO!"_

"Then _since_ you are going to be a ninja and you are an Uzumaki-"

"Namikaze," Minato corrected, a little annoyed. "He _looks _like _me_."

Kushina glared at him, slightly exasperated, "Well he _acts_ more like _me. _His name is Namikaze _Uzumaki_ Naruto. He has Uzumaki blood too, we've been through this."

Of consequence, this was often a usual argument between Minato and Kushina. They playfully bickered over who was more like their precious child. But before the other parent could respond, Kushina continued, "Anyway, because you are of _Uzumaki _origin, you are entitled to the right of accepting a blood partner, if you'd like one. It's completely optional."

Naruto cocked his head. So Akira _was_ like Akamaru in that she was bonded by blood instead of a summon animal. Naruto had guessed as much. Whenever Kushina went out on a mission, Akira would follow. But deciding to feign innocence as was his lot in circumstance, Naruto inquired, "Blood partner?"

"Like Akira and I. We are blood partners. Remember the boy the other day with the puppy? Inuzuka Kiba? His puppy is his blood partner. If you accept, you, Akira, and I will travel to _Kokudo no Kitsune_ so you can find a foxy friend of your own," said Kushina, proudly. Obviously, this was something she was looking forward to doing with Naruto, and he wasn't about to rain on her parade.

"_This is all so strange. Think about how much I missed in the old life. No nice house, no family, no kekkei genkai, no special family-stuff, no blood partner, nothing. Now everything's about to change. If I was able to to get as strong as I am _without _these things, what sort of person will I be when I come out of all this?_" thought Naruto before saying, "Kokudo no Kitsune? What is that? Do foxes like Akira live there? What do you mean _find_? Is my partner predetermined? Will they be as big as Akira? Why is it just Uzumaki? And why can't Kiba's dog talk?"

"Jaa! I didn't know you would have so many questions!" laughed Kushina at her son's excited face, "First, to explain Kokudo no Kitsune, I have to ask your dad here to explain what a summoning contract or summoning animal is."

Minato and Kushina looked at each other briefly before Minato spoke, "A summoning contract is a document which you sign that allows you to summon an animal to help you in battle. Generally, they can speak and are quite intelligent, making them separate from their non-speaking counterparts in our world. The number of contracts with summoning animals is varied and many. It is unknown how many contracts there are, but they are very rare and usually kept by one person or a clan singularly. Anyway, each summon has its own realm where they are summoned from, and go to when they are done helping the summoner. Kind of like another world within a world. I have a contract with toads, whose realm is up in the Forbidden Mountains. The animals in each realm do not allow humans inside unless they have a contract,but they have their own kind of hierarchy, rules, and customs, just like different countries do. Did I get everything?"

"Yes, thank you. Did _you_ get all that, Naru-chan?" asked Kushina.

"Umm… not really, but I sort of get it…" said Naruto, scratching the back of his head apologetically. "But how does that explain what it is?"

"Hold on, I'm getting there!" Kushina smirked. "Like a summon, Kitsune have their own realm in which they live. The only exception is that there is no summoning contract for foxes. There might have been at one point, but now the only way to fight with a fox is to be born an Uzumaki."

Naruto absorbed this information silently, before asking, "So, basically, in the Fox Realm there is a fox waiting for me?"

"Huh! It could be any of the little kits in there. And because you're presently the only Uzumaki without a partner, there will be many who will want to be," smiled Kushina.

"So… what happens to the foxes who aren't picked?" asked Naruto. He hoped nothing of an evil or cruel nature would happen to them if he didn't pick the small kit for himself. With his own experiences into international affairs, lots of very strange and terrible customs were observed in different societies for apparently no reason other than that was the way of things. Naruto didn't like half of them.

"Well, they just live their lives in the fox realm. They have their own society like we do, the ones who aren't picked simply work at other professions. Shop keeps, soldiers, government officials, etcetera," said Kushina, a matter-of-factly.

"Oh, okay," said Naruto, inwardly relieved. _"This is turning out to be quite interesting. I've never thought about where other summons go… I've been in the toad mountain, but still... that's pretty neat," _and thinking of another question, Naruto asked, "So what do I do when I get there? Do I need to… sign a contract?"

"Pretty much!" grinned Kushina, folding her arms. "You find your partner, then _bam!_ You smear some blood on a scroll and tada! Instant blood partner. We'll actually be leaving in a few weeks, just as soon as Akira figures out how to reverse-summon us to Kokudo."

"But how big do they get? Can they all talk?" asked Naruto, who was sincerely interested. He knew young Akamaru was unable to form human speech, but Akira had no trouble at all. Naruto felt that some of the Inuzuka dogs could talk, but he couldn't remember properly. For as long as he had known Kiba, which was awhile, he hadn't spent enough time with the foul-smelling dog boy to be much interested in his mutt. On the contrary, once that silly dog had _peed_ on him, he lost any and all interest permanently.

Akira, who had grown even more in three years and was the size of a large horse, strolled into the room and graced Naruto with an answer for Kushina, "Foxes come in all colors and shapes and sizes. Pick a fox that you like, but I would pick one strong enough to cover your back if you were ever injured. Plus, I'm proud of my size. Though I'm not incredibly discrete, I'm fast, and can carry 'Shina-taichou on my back easily enough."

"In the meantime while they're trying to figure out that decrepit scroll, you'll be with me, because just as much as your mother here," Minato shot Kushina a smug look which earned him a konk on the head, "OW! Would like to keep you out of my sight, you've got an obligation to the Namikaze side of your blood too! What do you think about fuujutsu? Nothing major of course... just the basics."

"Cool!" said Naruto. "That sounds…"

**

* * *

**

"**Kit, we have a serious problem."**

Naruto bleakly opened his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the intense sunlight the great fox preferred in his Elysian Fields. Groaning at the interesting stiffness in his limbs, Naruto sat up, blinking.

**"Sorry to drag you out of la-la land, but look at your spiritual body,"** said the fox, whose voice seemed lighter and less dooming. In investigation to this interesting new pitch, Naruto looked around at the silver cage separating Kyuubi from himself.

Naruto's eyes widened. Instead of his huge, looming spiritual body, the once enormous fox was only slightly bigger than Akira, his nine tails decorated with fluffy white tips. The fox's menacing aura had completely dissipated. The Kyuubi was always proud of his immense size and imposition, but what had gone so terribly wrong that he now looked like an ordinary fox. Granted, the ruby red eyes of the great fox were still slitted and dangerous as ever... but it seemed so wrong to find the fox any weaker than his normal self. Like the world was going to come crashing down with this new hysteria.

"**Don't stare at me, examine yourself, you are just as different,"** snorted Kyuubi, irritated, and most obviously dissatisfied with his new look.

Naruto hobbled over to the pond to look at his reflection. His first overall impression was that nothing about himself was out of the ordinary. But then again, peering at himself closer he saw what the Kyuubi meant. His pupils were slitted like the fox's, and although his irises were still his electric blue, the edges of them were rugged and more feral. His jawline was sharper; his whisker marks thicker and darker. In the old world, he didn't have the characteristic long side-bangs of his father; he'd cut his hair before it got that long. But now his hair was longer, and tickled the nape of his neck and the rims of his jaw. What was also interesting was that even though he should be in a brand-new, twenty-one year old body, he still looked seventeen. Raking his hands through his new hair, he noticed that his nails were sharper, and when he accidentally scratched himself and grimaced, he saw sharp, elongated canines.

But the most startling and inhuman discovery about the changes were the yellow fox ears lying on the top of his head, flared out to either side; at first unnoticable in the new mop of longer hair.

"WHAT THE HELL?! What the heck are these doing there?!" exclaimed Naruto, tugging on the apparently biological ears attached to his head.

Kyuubi brought a paw up to his head and rubbed it saying, **"Shut up and I will explain! You're giving me a headache."**

Naruto's new ears involuntarily flattened themselves against his head as he sat down, still pulling at them.

Kyuubi shifted his weight before speaking. **"As you know, the _Shikki Fuujin_ is designed to allow my chakra to mix and flow through your coils and spiritual essence for you to utilize. In the old world, your seal was gradually weakening because of low maintenance, allowing me too… slip through... and help you out a few times."**

A palpable silence permeated the space between jailor and jailed before Kyuubi continued.

"**I believe that because the _Shikki Fuujin_ in this body is much stronger now, the actual age of your soul (twenty-one) is speeding up the rate at which my chakra is fed into your system. Normally, the only change the _Shikki Fuujin_ does to your body physically is, obviously, the seal appearing on your abdomen, and your whiskers. Now that nearly double the amount of demonic chakra runs through you, more changes to your spiritual form are taking place."**

"WHAT!? You mean I'll have these," Naruto pulled at the furry appendages again, "in the physical world too?!"

"**No you idiot. You look the same as ever out there, but in here is where your chakra is mixing: here in the seal. And your soul is in here with your chakra. _Here in the seal. _You grow ears anyway when you use my chakra shroud."**

"So why am I still young, I should be an adult now, what's up?" cried Naruto, incredulously.

"**Because I'm immortal****."**

"Okay Kyuub's I'm going to pretend that made any sense... So why are you… less… biggish?"

"**I believe that would be the seal's fault," **sighed Kyuubi to himself, **"As irritating as it is, as the seal takes away more and more of my chakra, my spiritual form decreases,"** said Kyuubi haughtily. **"Also, in regards to my chakra. Now that this new amount has been introduced to your normal, **_**spiritual**_** chakra, you'll probably need to relearn how to mold chakra. I advise you to be cautious about which jutsu you use in battle, as not many are designed to be used with a demonic aura. Using the wrong Jutsu in close proximity with allies may lead to… unnecessary injuries."** Kyuubi smirked slightly at this last comment.

Naruto scowled. The shit was just hitting the fan, now wasn't it? This was a major, unforeseen, setback. If the timeline was the same in this world, Naruto would have about six months before Itachi began his slaughter. If he couldn't efficiently perform jutsu before then, they, including poor Sasuke, would be in a world of trouble.

There was, of course, the possibility that the weasel wouldn't defect at all. Although unlikely, Naruto had learnt that anything was possible in this new timeframe. Then there was Minato. If there was anyone who could stop anything from happening to the Uchiha, it was the Yondaime.

Naruto sighed before speaking again, "So this is the extent 'serious problem'?"

Kyuubi's grin disappeared instantaneously to be replaced by a scowl.

"**I am fading,"** strained the fox, bitterly. "**Which is the reason you still look seventeen.**"

"Pardon?" asked Naruto, confused.

"**The seal is devouring my spirit. As it takes and transfers my chakra, it is ripping, not only my spiritual form, but my soul. I knew that I would die when you died, but now the process is being sped up. In all likelihood, I will die in this cage before your body in the new world turns thirty. And by that time, all my chakra will be yours and you will have to take up my mantle and be the new, immortal Ninth Demon."**

Naruto was speechless. Was that really possible? It couldn't be.

Kyuubi had broken the news like an inevitable rain cloud, and the aftermath was wet and sticky.

A million things flashed through his mind, each more terrible than the first; none comforting at all. If Kyuubi was fading, what would happen to the _Shikki Fuujin_ afterward? What would then subsequently happen to the _Sealate Warpein_? How would he take Kyuubi's place? Would he sprout nine tails and be able to destroy mountains with a sneeze? Would his soul be forever damned to roam the living plane for eternity like the other demons? Would his personality warp to that of a monster? What would happen if he couldn't control that enormous, sinister chakra? Would he unintentionally kill his own family? And last, what about the _Hiraishin_?

Naruto shuddered. This all seemed too unreal. Like a horror story, written in a cheesy, fragmented reality brought to the palpable dimension for the amusement of some sadistic goddess authoring his life's story.

"**I do not know about the _Shikki Fuujin_ or the _Sealate Warpein_, they will probably erase from existence. By taking my place, you will simply wield my influence over the dimension, including my chakra and place on the demonic monarchy. Physical shape shifting is a demonic art, but I hope for purposes of tradition, you keep your physical form as a nine-tailed fox. Also, it would also be safe to assume because you are to be the Ninth demon, your spirit form would be a fox, because my chakra is the essence of the Kitsune,"** said Kyuubi.

"So I could keep my human form? Like I am right now?" asked Naruto, not surprised that Kyuubi had volunteered this information.

"**Well, you wouldn't have a choice until your current physical body expired or 'died' to put it bluntly. You have a whole human lifetime to decide. When your body does die, your form will be the one people see me as: a giant red chakra fox with nine tails, until you settle on a form of your own. In short, your current body will always look how you used to in the old world, but in here, I predict many changes. And unless something completely unforseen happens, I predict it shall stay that way."**

"Wow."

"**Are** **you sure you're getting all this? I'm sure this is all very confusing for a human,"** said Kyuubi, amused.

"So far I've got this, or I'm _assuming_ this: As my life in this body (PHYSICAL FORM) continues on, my soul's appearance (SPIRITUAL FORM) is influenced by the Kitsune chakra, which is being transferred over by the Shikki Fuujin. This influence makes my _spiritual_ form look more like a fox, which then affects my _physical_ form, so that's why I have ears. Then, when I die, I'll by that time have all the Kitsune chakra, and I'll basically look like you in _both _spiritual/physical form, but I can shape shift, so it doesn't matter, right?" said Naruto, who could feel a serious headache coming on.

"**Very good, I must say that I am rather impressed, considering the effects of your **_**physical**_** mental capacity,"** said Kyuubi, knowing that using more big terms would aggravate poor Naruto's headache. **"Continuing on with the original list of questions: Yes, you could demolish mountains with a sneeze if you wanted. Yes, you'd wander the world for eternity, but it's not **_**that**_** boring, unless you get stuck with a Jinchuuriki, no offense… well… nevermind, do take offense. I've got a bone to pick with your father. Anyway, I don't think you will become as… 'Enlightened' as I am. You will still be you. It's your soul, but please note that being the boss in charge is expected from the highest demon, so don't be a wuss or anything. It would be an insult to my memory. Yes, of course you would be able to control all the Kitsune chakra; you'll be a **_**demon**_** for crying out loud. And if you kill your family, that's just your own fault, and I'd be disgusted with you if you did."**

Kyuubi smirked at Naruto's attempts to hide his mortification. **_"That must be a lot to deal with, a human, whose spirit is barely seventeenish is told he'll be a demon. Absolutely fascinating. Not that this is at all pleasing for _me,**" thought the fox, who was really angry at all this happenstance. The _Shikki Fuujin_ and _Sealate Warpein _together would painfully rip out his soul, destroy it, while giving his chakra over to some pitiful human who didn't know a thing about demonic tradition or really anything about them... though he did know quite a bit, being a jinchuuriki. **_"But I suppose I can resolve myself to death. I do not fear it like humans... for I know what lies beyond the eternal gate, having been there a few times myself, and I will at last be at peace with my beloved kits..."_**

* * *

Minato really didn't understand what was happening. One minute they were discussing what would be happening in the next few months in regards to 'family plans', the next, his son had slipped out of his chair and onto the floor. Now the two parents were sitting outside of their son's new hospital room; Kushina fidgeting and suppressing the urge to bust some random passerby's head open, Minato attempting to achieve an Uchiha-esque stoic face. They were both failing horribly.

Finally, Kushina seized a magazine out of the hands of her calm and, apparently, not-distressed neighbor and started flipping through its pages rapidly. The man looked over her head and raised an eyebrow at Minato, who smiled apologetically and scratched the back of his head. After several more minutes, a nurse and a doctor came out of Naruto's room, conversing heatedly, before spotting Kushina and Minato. The nurse shook her head and sprinted down a corridor, while the doctor quickly strode over to the two anxious parents.

"Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-sama, I am Doctor Sarumaru of the foreign chakra ward," said the doctor, taking a small bow, before continuing immediately. "We believe there may be a problem with your son's seal."

Minato stiffened and Kushina by no means was calmed at this news. The elder blonde tensed, ready for anything, running battle plans through his head, reinforcing seals to put on the _Shikki Fuujin, _as he followed the brisk stride of the doctor into Naruto's room... but Kushina was already there, worrying over Naruto like she was a doctor herself. His poor litte Naruto lay on the bed, looking completely normal and at peace, which faltered Minato's apprehension, but only just. Minato joined her, and after exchanging an apprehensive look with the doctor, he suddenly was filled with a mindset of purpose. He wanted answers and he wanted them now, and he knew exactly how to get them. Methodically, Minato pulled up his son's shirt to access the seal.

The three adults held their breath as Minato scanned it, checking and triple checking that all swirls, kanji, and markers were intact and functional. When his eyes searched for the _Sealate Warpein_, his heartbeat thudded and jerked to a spluttering halt.

It was gone.

"_Calm down, Minato, look again,"_ he ordered himself mentally. _"There's no possible way a permanent seal like that could be erased."_

Minato exhaled in relief when he found it, though its appearance was even more startling, as it was faded and opaque; the inking hiding and barely visible against the complex swirl of the _Shikki Fuujin_. But as Minato looked closer, however, he saw that the _Sealate Warpein_ was not faded; rather, the _Shikki Fuujin_ was _darker_.

Puzzled, Minato performed a ram seal and gently put his hands on the dark marks, letting his chakra flow in to analyze.

Nothing seemed to be out of order maintenance-wise, but, curiously, the demonic chakra output had been doubled. Not that it was an immediate problem; it was really just odd that the level had spontaneously dilated without any factor.

Or did it?

Minato frowned as a million possibilities ran through his head in an attempt to explain the situation. _"Was this Kyuubi's doing? No, he cannot alter the seal… Enemy ninja? Unlikely. Naruto would have been in great pain, and what would their motive be? Create a stronger Jinchuuriki? What about the_ Sealate Warpein_?"_

It was certainly a possibility. The seal itself was a very unknown dimension breaker. Who would've foreseen the effects it could have on other seals that it was interlocked with? Minato sighed, releasing the tensions in the room, and informed the room of his findings.

"There's nothing wrong with the seal's structure at all; no construction or maintenance issues. In fact, it's working perfectly. The thing is the chakra output. It's doubled," said Minato, calmly, addressing the doctor.

"So he's okay?" Kushina inquired anxiously.

"Yes, he'll be fine. My theory is that his system is simply adjusting to the new output, making him fall asleep in the middle of activity. No harm done."

All occupants of the room smiled.

"Well then, I think it'll be okay for us to release him when he wakes up," said the doctor, pleasantly. "If you will excuse me…" And he left.

Both parents simultaneously sighed again and seated themselves in the visitor's chairs conveniently located at Naruto's bedside.

"How will this affect his career? Just give him more demonic chakra? And you're sure the fox can't be an influence?"

"Well, the fox will always be an influence whether we want it to be or not. But it's not going to be around for much longer anyway, what with the rate at which its chakra is being pulled out by the _Shikki Fuujin_. I'm imagining its soul is taking the pressure right now, regardless of its ability to regen the normal supply. As to Naruto's career… I'm not sure. Even though his own reserve is very substantial in volume and will probably be as large as ours, if not larger, as he grows older, but with the demonic reserve now doubled… "Minato paused, choosing his words carefully to convey reason, "all of his jutsu will be similarly affected. Whether it enhances them, does nothing, or backfires. We will have to proceed with caution. It will probably be ridiculously hard for him to mold chakra at all, even though he's done incredibly well on his own without even knowing it."

Kushina sighed, her features dulling into her thinking face.

"_The_ Sealate Warpein_, the cloud incident, and now this…"_ she thought, grimly. _"What a sacrifice for a parent to make. To save the village you were sworn to protect, you must curse your own child with a terrible force that will affect him for the rest of his life. Some choice. And on top of it, Naruto has the inherited shoes of his father to fill; not an easy path at all. All Minato's enemies were his enemies from the moment of his birth."_

She grimaced again at a new thought.

"_And one day, probably in the next five or six years, he'll have to face the most difficult obstacle of his life. Minato may postpone it for as long as he likes, but on that destined day, he will unlock Naruto's _Hiraishin_. And with the backing of the Kyuubi's chakra, my son will in all likelihood become a force of nature unseen in the world."_

As she became more and more engrossed in her thoughts, she found them becoming darker and more sinister in nature. The _Hiraishin_, Kyuubi, her son's soon to be partner spirit, and his place in the Shinobi world; all inevitable and depth-defying.

She mentally started as Minato's hand found hers, making her spine tingle like it had all those many years ago.

"_But there is some hope. Kyuubi is fading thanks to the seal, which makes it possible for Naruto to wield all that power when the time comes. After the next few weeks, he'll never be alone. His partner spirit will be there. And when he does unlock his _Hiraishin_,"_ Kushina smiled, breaking the dark thoughts of despair with the hammer of white reverie in a blink of an eye, _"we'll be there for him, Minato and me."_

Minato's hand squeezed hers and they looked at each other. Minato seemed to know exactly what her train of thought was, as he always did, and he smiled.

**

* * *

**

This was all interesting news to him.

Apparently, if his worthless underlings were correct, the ninth demon child was hospitalized in Konoha for 'top secret' reasons.

It was interesting how their Hokage had thwarted his plans in the first place, but it was a minor setback. He WOULD have all the Jinchuuriki under his power eventually, anyway.

His features cracked into a smug smile.

It was Minato he had to thank in the first place. Killing the little ninth brat would be such a waste of talent. If Minato had gone off and died like he was supposed to, who'd unlock his little boy's power? Now that the conceited Hokage had survived, he could finally see how wonderful it would be to not only have the power of all nine demons, but the _Hiraishin_ as well!

Yes, yes, he truly had Minato to thank, _indeed._

**

* * *

**

"Uchiha Itachi," the tall one stated.

"_I am very aware of my name, thanks very much,"_ the Uchiha in question thought to himself, disgusted. He was never one for dramatics, or the ineptitudes that accompanied it, and, as usual, the council was shamelessly displaying their own incapabilities. It was a wonder that Hokage-sama did not do away with the whole affair. He was under the impression that the First created it to be a just and civil display, only for the public's appeasement, whilst the real authority rested in the Hokage's hands. Although when pondered, the former Sandaime would have wanted to keep it in his traditional ways, and must have influenced the brilliant Yondaime into tolerating it.

He lifted a darkly-gloved hand and gracefully tucked a loose strand of hair behind his pale ear, Sharingan threatening to blaze out in a whirl of blood red at this new indignity to his family. But, he had more control than most, and kept his usual, resilient impassivity.

The council's motives behind said indignity were unambiguous and as predictable as his treasured little brother's next kunai mark. If he had deluded himself into believing the council stupid (which he had not but instead knew perfectly well the high level of cunning and intelligence the crumblies possessed) or had been naive enough to believe it, then he might have accepted the indignity that lay before him as simple, expected ignorance.

But he knew better.

They had summoned him away from his precious and scarce time with his little brother, which had irked him in the first place, and then rubbed this new blasphemy into his irritation. The tall council member named Danzou had expressed his belief that the Uchiha family, excluding himself and his little brother, was striking a plot against the council and Hokage in an attempt to impose a new, Uchiha-run Konoha.

The Flaws of this operation?

First, his father, Uchiha Fugaku, would never even _dream_ of doing it. Although he too was a born and bred Uchiha, Fugaku would never try to go against the Yondaime, perhaps the Sandaime, but certainly not Namikaze-sama. The two had been inseparable as children, and if he knew his father at all, he would live up to his own teachings of never betraying those precious.

Second, most of the Uchiha interested in becoming government officers had done just that. The clan represented most in the governmental infrastructure was the one this incompetent council was trying to dishonor.

Their motives for this was simply to get rid of the Uchiha, who had long-standing feuds with the council (including Komura and Koharu) in many political battles on diplomatic procedure, had great influence with the Hokage, and occupied many key government jobs.

"What say you? Is it possible for you to become a spy in your own household, Uchiha Itachi?" asked the ever-smug Homura.

Itachi received the feeling that this last question did not inquire into his physical ability, but rather his mentality. Asking this was yet another insult, not only to his family, but his pride as a ninja. One of the most sacred nindos was pushing emotion away and executing orders without question, which he would have to do if commanded.

"Hai, Mitokado-sama," said Itachi, admirably keeping the rage out of his voice.

"And kill your own family?" asked Homura, smirk widening into a sickening grin.

"Clarification," said Itachi, curtly, "is that a direct order?"

"It is."

The rage inside Itachi exploded. It took every ounce of training and control taught to him to compress and stifle the burning desire to run Homura through with his sword. His _Uchiha _made sword. The effort applied to restrain his limbs from shaking with boiling anger, let alone keep his face in check, could have moved mountains if applied.

"Don't look so grim Itachi, we have adequate compensation for you. And it is of more value than cold hard currency! Please allow Danzou-kun here to explain your princely rewards."

Itachi languidly settled his impassive gaze on the crippled old man, restraining a wave of killing intent from sweeping aside his forbearance. The council members were looking quite self-satisfied, which meant Itachi had not betrayed his true feelings on the matter to them, which would have been fatal. The dark ANBU knew, however, that if this had the full backing of Konoha's government, Namikaze-sama himself would be present in this meeting room and breifing him. All was not lost.

"Not only will you indeed recieve a sum of money natural to a mission of this class, you will recieve a great power, which I'm sure you are already aware runs in the veins of your clan. The Mangekyou Sharingan. By slaughtering your _entire _family, you would then kill the one person who we know from our reports is your best friend! How could you refuse such an offer, as it would leave you with all your honor and more? You would not even need to leave the village if you do your job properly. The _entire _family Itachi," Danzou paused, but did not share in the smugness of his compatriots, "including your little brother."

Before Danzou could continue, Itachi queried, "As an order with the intended result to eliminate those accused of treason, and citizens of Konoha who work as fellow ninjas, has the Hokage cleared this?"

"You have no authority to ask that question," Homura replied, smirk sliding a little on his ugly face.

"Under the Code, I do, as it involves the assassination of Konoha citizens. This action must be cleared by the Hokage."

"Does your obvious reluctance to carry out orders indicate that you are part of this plot?"

"There is no plot to be part of. Being with and living in the Uchiha compound, as well as the known connections between the clan head, Uchiha Fugaku, and the present Hokage, I, as the representation and 'spy' of the clan can reassure the entirety of the council that no such plot has ever even been considered."

The council growled angriliy.

"As you have provided enough information to counter our assumption, we order you to speak of this meeting to no one; that we _can_ order on pain of death, and you are dismissed," growled a vehemently angry council member, who stood up as soon as he ended his dismissal, knocking over chairs in a very immature tantrum in Itachi's personal opinion.

The Uchiha founded Konoha with the Senjuu clan, and would remain loyal forever.


End file.
